Holiday Miracles
by Everlite
Summary: Holiday fanfic, evidently! The four girls rejoice with the guys again, and each teen is unaware of the others affections. Little do they know...will certain holiday events to bring their true desires into the light? Or trip it up?
1. Rejoice by Snowballs

**Hey guys…I'm putting my other fic on hold for just A TEENSEY WEENSEY BIT to make this one…since it's around the holidays, I've had this undying urge to right a holiday fic. It's not action/adventure as mine usually are, but I'm hoping it would be an ok change from what I usually write. But there's no way I'm dropping action/adventure. That stuff, I live for.**

**Once I'm done with this one, I'm diving right back into my life of action/adventure, not to worry. This may not get many reviews, but oh well. I wanna get into holiday cheer somehow, and I hope you will too! Thanks guys, please give it a chance!**

Chapter 1 (And only??? You guys be the judges…)

Rejoice by Snowballs

"Come play in the snow, Hinata!" Tenten shouted at the young Hyuuga girl, who was rocking on her feet while standing in the doorway of Sakura's house.

"T-t-too…c-cold…" Hinata replied as she trembled. This time, she was stuttering due to the cold.

"It really isn't that cold, Hinata," Ino said, compacting a snowball in her palms.

"I b-b-beg to d-differ…" Hinata said, pulling her jacket tighter around her torso.

"Well, you're gonna have to come out here some time," Ino said.

"Why is th-that?" Hinata asked as the icy vapor came out of her mouth.

"Because," Sakura said, coming out from behind Ino. Suddenly, they both hurdled snowballs at Hinata.

"Eek!" Hinata fell on her butt as the rest of the girls keeled over laughing. "That wasn't funny!" she squealed as she brought up her upper body.

"Yes it was…" said Tenten between laughter. Catching the distressed look upon Hinata's face, Ino ran over to her and lifted her to her feet.

"Come on," she said. "You're already snowy. You might as well come out here with us!" She tugged Hinata's arms and dragged her into Sakura's snow filled backyard.

Hinata stood motionless as she felt fozen. Sakura and Ino sighed.

"Here," Sakura said, tossing her a snowball as she, Ino and Tenten planted their feet and opened their arms. "Free shot at us. Then will you loosen up a bit?"

There was no reply from Hinata for a few seconds.

"Come on, please, it'll be-" Tenten began, but stopped mid sentence when a snowball came in hard contact with her face. For a while, the girls stood in shock.

"Whoa…Hinata." They all said. Sakura whistled. Who would have thought she'd have that good of aim? After the silence broke, they all cracked smiles.

This time, the girls laughed at Tenten. Tenten laughed along as she wiped the snow off the red side of her face. She stood up.

"…lucky shot," she laughed.

"Ha, she owned you!" said Ino, right before she too was hit with a snowball in her arm. She turned to see Sakura looking all innocent.

"Oh, you're so gonna pay for that one!"

From there, it was every girl for her self in an all-out snowball battle (AN: as lame as that sounds, I'm sure we've all had one before…you know who you are…) Snowballs flew back and forth relentlessly, each followed by either "crap! I missed!" "MUAHA! Gotcha!" or "Eek, she got me!"

Sakura and Ino decided to make a 'snow alliance', a snowball pact they started when they were young girls. They vowed not to attack one another.

"Ok," said Ino, laying out the plan (AN: Yes, in dire times, perilous snowball fights call for maliciously laid out plans!) "So, I'm gonna go left and throw two at Hinata, while you swerve right and throw-AGH!"

Ino was cut short when she and Sakura were suddenly bombarded by about ten snowballs.

"What the?" Sakura said. She brought her head up from her arms that were shielding her.

"Hey!" Ino called over the small fortress they made out of a three foot wall of snow. "Where'd you learn to throw like that, guys?"

"Like what?" They looked to see Tenten and Hinata come out from behind a tree further away from them. Sakura and Ino instantly choked up and looked at one another.

"Wait a sec," Sakura began, holding her hands up. "If you guys have been over there this whole time, then who just-"

More snowballs hit Sakura and Ino, and they could hear laughter…male laughter?

"Naruto?" Hinata said softly.

"Neji??" Tenten asked, gapping.

"Shikamaru?????" Ino gasped.

"SASUKE?" Sakura said in shock.

"That's us!" A happy nonchalant voice that belonged to Naruto chirped. All the girls ran over.

"You guys!" Ino said, smiling.

"Long time no see," said Sakura.

"It's only been a year and a half," informed Neji from behind Naruto and Sasuke.

"Wow, you're right…well it feels like longer," said Tenten. The girls nodded in agreement. Tenten grinned. That was a typical Neji greeting alright.

"So how have you guys been?" Hinata brought herself to ask. Naruto turned and smiled, making her turn red.

"I'm awesome!" He said happily. "And you?" he asked Hinata.

"Oh, me?" Hinata said lightly. "I'm…fine."

"That's good," said Naruto warmly.

"Yeah," replied Hinata quietly.

"Yeah…" echoed Naruto quieter. They both instantly looked away, both their faces flushing.

Upon seeing this, Tenten nudged Ino and Sakura and raised her eyebrows. They all grinned, happy to see Hinata and Naruto had not dropped the link they had, even after the interval.

"Man," said Shikamaru, stepping forward and looking at the ground, then the sky. "I didn't think I'd ever see snow again…" He bent down and rubbed some in between his un-gloved fingers, as it quickly melted to liquid and dripped down his fingers. "Never would have seen a hint of cloud back in the Sand Country."

"Speaking of which," said Ino. "What brings you back to Konoha? Things not tip-top condition in the Sand Country?" Ino was half-hoping this would be the case, as her friend yet slightly rival Temari lived there, and she for some reason didn't like the nonstop flirting had between her and Shikamaru.

"Naw, nothing like that," answered Sasuke. Ino face half fell, but she didn't let it show. "We just wanted to be back home for the holidays. We were sorry we missed it last year, especially when we found out that no one really celebrates the holidays in the sand country. Plus, we thought it would be cool seeing everyone again," he looked pointedly at Sakura, but she didn't notice.

"But why come three weeks in advance?" Tenten asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, well, you know…we were afraid it would take awhile….but it like…didn't…and…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he lied terribly.

"Ok, fine," Neji said, his arms up. "Truth is, it was getting downright boring over there. Every day, every routine, it's the same. And it's as if no one there knows of emotion." It was ironic, having a stoic say that a country has no emotion, but it just showed them how boring the place probably was.

The girls all were thinking the same thing…if they wanted emotion, they came to the right place.

"Oh…I see…" said Ino. The boys nodded. "Except there's just a teensy little problem."

"What?" Shikamaru asked with a perplexed look on his face.

Next thing he knew, snow was all in his face.

"I want revenge." With that, Ino laughed and ran off as Shikamaru scooped up some snow to get back at her for well…getting back at him.

"A genius has gotta break sometime!" Ino shouted as she ran.

Shikamaru grinned as he shook his head. _Sigh…she's right. _He ran after her.

"Hm…Ino strikes a good point." Tenten said stroking her chin as she winked at Sakura. Neji and Sasuke raised their eyebrows.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

And who knew. Icy snow came in _their _faces

"Frick…" They both looked at each other. Sakura and Tenten just squealed giddily and ran off like Ino did.

"Well…" said Sasuke.

"We might as well," shrugged Neji. The two both gathered up snow and went after the two girls. I sure do feel bad for the victims of the snowballs those guys will be throwing…

Naruto and Hinata on the other hand, just stood there.

"Hey, Hinata?" Naruto asked kindly.

"Yes, Naruto?" Hinata replied.

"You got something on your face."

Hinata's hand immediately flew to her face in embarrassment as it checked around it. "Where?" she asked in a panic.

Then…snow flew in her face.

"THERE!" Hinata fell on his butt laughing, pointing at Hinata's face.

Hinata just stood stiff as Naruto rolled around in the snow. _Oh…my…god…_

Hinata had no choice. She gently took some snow in her hand, and compacted it together.

_Sometimes you gotta live life on the edge Hinata…well, as far to the edge as you can get that is. Meaning THROW THE FRICKIN SNOWBALL! _As Hinata's more daring alter ego jumped in, she flung the snowball, almost against her control.

It hit Naruto and he instantly stopped laughing.

_I can't believe I just did that. _

"Ah, well," Naruto got up from the snow and brushed some off him. "TWO, can play at that game my friend!"

Hinata started running, knowing what would happen next.

Next thing the eight of them knew, it was a snowball fight to the death. (AN: Well, you know what I mean by that.)

**Hope you liked it! More chapters on the way, if this gets any reviews whatsoever that is…if I get like, six, I will update the second one. THANKS SO MUCH GUYS, again, I hope you give me a chance to see what I can do with a regular romance fic! Love you all! R and R!**


	2. Walk Down Memory Lane

**OK! Like, half the reviews I got were correcting the mistake I made with saying "Hinata" instead of "Naruto", and for that I apologize. I didn't catch it till after I updated, and I couldn't change it back. I hope you like this one too guys, thanks so much for reading the first one. Also, I really don't mean to be rude, honest, but If you find any other grammatical errors could you please PM them to me instead? Thanks!**

Chapter 2:

**Walk Down Memory Lane**

After a long afternoon chasing one another around with snowballs aimlessly, all the teens' legs gave out due to tiredness, and they plopped to the ground.

"You're never too old for snowball fights…" Ino smiled as she started making a snow angel.

"That's for sure," agreed Tenten, throwing her arm over her forehead.

They all lied there for about five minutes, catching their breaths until the boys all stood up.

"Hey, this was fun and all," said Shikamaru. "But we really got to head out. Lots of work to do." _Lie…but we have to discuss some stuff._

"Yeah," said Neji. Sasuke nodded.

"Oh…" said all the girls, feeling rather depressed that their meeting after one and a half years was cut short.

"We'll see you later then?" Sakura asked.

"Definitely," said Sasuke.

"Bye!" said Ino.

"Bye," the guys said.

As the guys walked away, the girls couldn't help but gawk.

Tenten stared at Neji as he walked away. She was happy that Neji had participated in the snowball fight. Had he been the person he was three years ago, he would have leaned against a tree with crossed arms, muttering things about how childish they were…but no. _He joined us_. The only thing that had ever made Tenten doubt her feelings for him was his attitude. _And now that that's changed…he seems perfect to me. _Then realizing Neji had what she called 'a third eye', she painfully tore her eyes away in embarrassment. _Frickin Byakugan…_she thought grumpily. _Keeping me from my view._

Hinata looked at Naruto. He had ditched the orange jumpsuit for a pair of well fit jeans and a large short sleeve shirt and a blue zip up hoodie, making him look more like a regular teenager than the daring kid he once was. Hinata didn't care, because she liked Naruto regardless, but his style certainly did peak her interest more than it had a few years ago. She just wondered how on Earth he stayed warm.

Sakura watched Sasuke. As the rough snowy wind blew, his hair flipped to one side. _Wow…it looks so…HOTT. Even more so than before. I mean, it doesn't look like a chicken anymore! _This was true. After many months of convincing by his friends, Sasuke finally succumbed to the cutting of his bird-like main. Thank God it was definitely not crew cut. It was just short enough to deplete the bird effect. It was still very thick and mysterious. This apparently was a good choice, as Sakura nearly drooled while watching.

Ino's eyes on the other hand, were focused on Shikamaru's build. _Wow. Who'd have thought the lazy genius would get so fit? _Shikamaru, like Sasuke, had undergone much convincing by his friends and had many expeditions to the weight room everyday, giving him breath-taking pectorals and well-sculpted biceps. Better yet, they weren't the freaky kind of muscular. They were the kind that was just right. Not ripped, but toned enough to make Ino swoon. _I wonder if his abs are chiseled! Ooh, how I'd like to know that…pfft, like he'd be open to me lifting up his shirt randomly to check for chiseled abbs. I'd pay to see someone attempt that act. _

"Why did they go all the way to the sand country again?" asked Hinata softly. Tenten shrugged.

"They were sent on a long-term mission to find information from a bordering country. The sand country has more advanced spy techniques, so they had to get training for it," she answered.

"Ah," said Ino, falling back into the snow. "Do you think they missed us?"

At this, they went silent. They had all been thinking the same thing. Had the guys missed them?

"Probably not," said Sakura in an unfortunate voice, falling into the snow next to Ino. "I mean, the day they feel for us the way we feel for them is the day Sasuke actually gives someone a gift for a the holidays!" They all laughed, knowing this was the last thing Sasuke would ever do.

After the laughter died, Ino rolled on her side to face Sakura.

"Hey, do you still have those scrapbooks?" she asked.

"Which ones? You know I have an infinite amount."

"The ones from all those years ago, our first year at the academy? It was the holidays celebration?" Ino explained, hoping to ring bells in Sakura's head.

"Oh, those!" Said Sakura, brightening up. "Of course I still have them! They're my favorites!" Tenten and Hinata lightened up too.

"Holy crap, I totally remember that day!" Said Tenten, recounting the celebration. "I so have to see those pictures!" She walked towards the house without another word.

Hinata shrugged and followed.

Ino and Sakura watched them walk to the house, looked at each other and chuckled.

"Alright then, I guess we're going in!" said Sakura, pulling Ino to her feet. "Come on!"

The two girls ran into Sakura's house, happily anticipating the warmth awaiting them.

_With the boys…_

"They're all so different!" said Naruto, kicking sludge as they walked.

"I didn't really think so," shrugged Sasuke, looking at the ground also.

"Nice try, Uchiha," said Neji, smirking. "We all saw how you looked at Sakura." Sasuke flushed and looked away.

"Yeah, Sasuke, she's the only girl you've ever warmed up to," said Naruto. "Ever," he emphasized.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sasuke shook his head. "Even if I did…feel for her, it's not like she would still feel the same toward me as she used to."

"You strike a point," said Shikamaru. "You were quite the royal asshole to her back when you were on the same team." (AN: I don't use the language I use in my fics in real life. I'm very stern on cussing in real life, yet I don't have a problem with my characters doing it in my stories. Weird, but oh well.)

Sasuke swung his head to face him. "What's that supposed to mean?" he glared.

"Well, come on man," said Naruto. "She says she loves you, and what do you do?"

"I…" Sasuke began hesitantly.

"Say it…" said Naruto.

"I knocked her out." Sasuke admitted quietly, crossing his arms.

"Exactly," explained Naruto. "Now see, I'm no genius like my good friend Shikamaru here, but something tells me girls don't take kindly to that kind of stuff."

"And they do take kindly to snow being thrown in their face out of no where?" Sasuke shot back, regarding Naruto's little 'stunt' on Hinata.

"Hey!" defended Naruto. "That was a joke!"

"And I'm sure my cousin just loved it," Neji said sarcastically. "You'd be lucky not to get slapped by her one day."

"Hey!" Naruto said. "Just because you can never get your girl, doesn't mean you have the right to doubt the chances I have with mine!"

"Ahem, first of all," Neji said. "Tenten is not 'my' girl, and Hinata is most definitely not 'your' girl. Second of all, shut up about Tenten and me. She used to confide in me about everything…and none of it ever included guys. Weapons, jutsus, sparring…believe me, boys are the last thing on her mind."

"And don't you just wish it was different…" Shikamaru mocked him, punching his arm playfully.

"Hn." Neji turned away, which was his little way of saying 'end of discussion.'

"Ah, which brings us to you Shikamaru!" Naruto said. "What about you and Ino? She's grown to be quite the babe."

"Naruto!" Shika hissed.

"What? You had to have noticed it too, man! I mean, she wasn't _that_ curvy when we were genins."

"Well, maybe I noticed a little," said Shikamaru, though his thoughts were saying _true…very true. _"But she never really liked me all that much. She was always yelling at me for being lazy or slacking."

"Well, now you're neither of those," winked Naruto. "So perhaps…she's changed her mind."

"You know what Naruto?" Shika said.

"What?"

"Shut up.

Naruto sighed. "Fine."

Back at Sakura's… 

"Oh my god!" Tenten nearly choked on her drink in shock. "Neji almost looked like Hinabi when he was young!" The girls laughed. (AN: Holy crap. He did.)

"I'm just imagining how my cousin would react had he heard that," giggled Hinata.

"I shudder to even imagine that," said Sakura.

"Watch it there, ladies…" Tenten joked, waving a finger.

"Right, sorry," laughed Ino.

"Besides," said Tenten, pointing at once picture. "It's not like Shikamaru was the epitome of male testosterone when he was young!"

"…I don't think he was ever the epitome of male testosterone," Ino said, scrunching up her face.

"Whatever. You know what I mean. Just look at it though!" Tenten said, dabbing the picture numerous times with her index finger.

"Fine, fine!" Ino said looking down at it. The second she laid eyes on it, she exploded into a fit of laughter. "His heads so huge!" She laughed, her torso hanging over the edge of the bed.

"I think," Sakura laughed. "We're laughing a bit too much today."

"Who cares, you can never laugh too much," said Ino calming down, lifting her torso back up.

"We certainly proved that when Naruto knocked down the Menorah when trying to dance!" said Sakura.

"Hey!" defended Tenten. "That was a real offense to my beliefs!"

"Oh yeah," said Hinata. "You got so mad at Naruto for knocking it over. See, there's even a picture of the outcome-" She pointed to a picture of Naruto with a large anime-style bump on his head, given to him by Tenten.

"Sorry Hinata, but the dope deserved it," Tenten said, holding her hands up. She brought her hand to the plate of ginger bread cookies they left baking before going out in the snow. She picked one up and hesitated. "Hey, are these kosher?"

"What? No…are there even such things as kosher ginger bread cookies?" Sakura asked. Tenten pouted.

"Well, there could be. They would just be extremely flat and un-fluffy…"

"In other words, gross," offered Sakura.

"No! Well…yeah actually," said Tenten sheepishly. She sighed. "Oh well…must stay true to my religion!" She said this dramatically, as she held the cookie out from her, acting repulsed.

"I understand, Tenten," Hinata smiled.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Sakura pointed at a particular picture. "That one's my favorite!"

They all looked at the picture she was pointing out. It was a picture of all eight of them, covered in flour. It was their first attempt to bake ginger bread men for their class, and it went a bit awry. Even so, in the picture they were all smiling and sitting by one another, as if they were having the time of their lives. Which they were.

"I really miss those days," Ino sighed.

"I know," agreed Sakura. "It'll be good to have them back for the Holidays."

"Sure will." Hinata agreed.

**Hope you liked that one, another one is in the waiting if this one gets any reviews! Thanks guys, R and R!**


	3. A Pleasant Surprise

**Hey guys! I love all of you who reviewed, thank you so much! Yes, each and every one of you, I LOVE YOU! (throws daisies at your faces in happiness)**

**Sorry. That was a bit much. **

**Anyways, to answer some questions, yes, I made Tenten Jewish in the story. I'm trying to make an equal balance of all religions here. I know how it is to come across a story or book that's either only Christmas, or only Hannukah, not being able to relate to it, so I'm hoping a lot more of you will be able to. I would put in others, but I don't know enough about them. I'm sorry! **

**Anyhoo, you can read now!**

Chapter 3:

**A Pleasant Surprise**

All the girls' parents (AN: Assuming that in this story, they all have parents) were out of town on long-term missions. None of them wanted their children being alone on the holidays, let alone for three weeks, so the parents all agreed for the girls to stay at Sakura's, as she had the largest house with the most sufficient food. Hinata could have stayed at the Hyuuga compound, but she preferred to be with her friends. Well, that and the fact that one of her uncles told her that the boys would all be staying there, and her being there while all the guys there would just be…odd. So she decided to stay with her friends.

In other words, it was like one huge sleepover.

Sakura's house had one large room apart from the main bedrooms that had many beds within it. Being medics, Sakura and her parents would rest patients in them as they healed them. The girls used them to sleep in for the next few weeks.

"Jeez, these are comfy Sakura!" said Ino as she climbed into one.

"They were built to provide maximum comfort for patients, so they're just about the most comfy beds you're ever gonna come across," she said, pulling the covers over herself.

"No doubt," said Tenten. They each had bedside tables with lights. On Hinata's table was a large book about the Hyuuga legacies of the ages, and a small vase of purple snow glories. Something about them provided her with an air of comfort.

On Sakura's bedside table were a few medical books of apothecary knowledge and a makeup bag.

On Ino's table was a makeup bag like Sakura's, a hairbrush and a journal.

On Tenten's were some kunais, shurikens, and a retainer (AN: Yes, they have orthodontists!)

"I still don't get why you need a retainer," Ino said to Tenten. "Of all the people I know, you have the best teeth."

"And that's because," Tenten said, popping her retainer in. "I fwear my fweatainer," Tenten spoke hardly coherently as her retainer made her voice all spitty. It was the kind that had the plastic over the roof of the mouth, making your tongue pronounce things weird.

"Whatever you say," said Ino, sinking into her bed as she scribbled stuff in her journal.

"What a day," sighed Hinata, turning on her side.

"You're telling me," agreed Sakura. Ino finished scribbling in her journal and shut her light off, as did the rest of the girls.

"You know, we never really did get over them." Ino's voice seemed to float through the night.

"No, duh," said Tenten, rolling onto her back.

"Not even after not seeing them for a year and a half," said Hinata softly. If you think her daytime voice was soft, you should hear her nighttime voice.

"Don't you hate chasing things you know will never be in your favor?" Sakura asked in a down tone of voice.

"Hey," said Tenten. "Being well taught in my ancestrial history, I'm saying miracles can still happen. They happened all those years ago…the giant Menorah, Jesus coming back from the dead…why not now?"

"I guess you're right, Tenten." The girls all basically said. With that, they fell into a deep sleep, large snowflakes fluttering by the windows above each bed.

With the guys at the Hyuuga Compound… 

"Whoa, watch it man!" You almost hit me there!" Naruto jumped back from a kunai that flew into the wall behind him, missing his head by only a few inches.

"I was _trying_ to hit you, Naruto," said Neji grumpily.

"Whu? But why?" Naruto asked sadly.

"Maybe because," Sasuke said, walked in with more baggy shorts and a T-shirt. "It's 2 AM, and you won't SHUT UP." Naruto pretended to look taken aback.

"Well _sor-ry, _if some of us aren't accustomed to the time change just yet!" he explained, pouting. "Besides, how can you sleep after what happened today?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked, walking in brushing his teeth (AN: I can't imagine any of the guys but Naruto brushing their teeth.)

"Pfft, you know what I mean," Naruto said, plopping down on a mattress. "Seeing those girls again? When we came back I never expected anyone to associate with us but the jounins and Tsunade, let alone them!"

"Well of course they associated with us you baka!" Sasuke bopped his head. "They were on our teams. It's not like we could just mosey on by them unnoticed."

"I guess you're right," sighed Naruto, yawning.

"Feeling tired now, eh?" Shikamaru kicked him lightly.

"Wha, eh? No, course…not…" Naruto voice got softer and his head plopped down as fast as it shot up. He wasn't asleep, but he was tired.

All the rest of the guys got in their beds too, er, mattresses, and turned out the coffee table light.

"Why did we go to the Sand Country again?" Sasuke asked, his tired voice seeming to float through the air.

"For the last time, Uchiha," said Neji, annoyed. "It was our mission."

"Right. Well, do you ever think that it…" they could tell what Sasuke was saying was hard for him to say. "It…"

"Wasn't worth it?" Shikamaru offered. "Being away from our families, our homes…our friends?"

"Dead on," said Sasuke, nodding his head.

"All the time, man," said Naruto, rolling over. "All the time."

"Yeah. I hate thinking back on what we have missed being gone," said Neji. "Like if…you know,"

"Everyone's moved on?" Shikamaru finished for him. Being a genius, he had quite the knack for finishing his best friend's sentences

"Yeah," he said.

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Sasuke, rolling onto his stomach. "After all, it's the holidays. We should be happy we're at least here."

"Since when have you been the optimistic type, Sasuke?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I guess it's just the old holiday cheer," Sasuke replied in half sarcasm. _Or some recent occurrences. _

In the morning at Sakura's house… 

Sakura rolled over as she tried to get comfy. "Hm…"

She rolled over again. Jeez, hard to believe right now that this was one of the ever-so comfortable beds she and her parents use for patients. Right then, it felt like it was full of…

I'm gonna kill them! 

"ROCKS?" Sakura squealed as she tumbled out of the bed, rubbing her back.

Her three friends peered around the corner, snickering.

"Not…funny…" she said as she stumbled up, looking down at her pebble-filled bed.

"Haha…I mean, you're right. Sorry, we couldn't resist!" Ino stepped into the room fully and wiped some gravel off the mattress onto her hand.

"You better get all those off!" Sakura scolded. "We keep patients in these things!"

"Yeah, yeah, mom, I remember," Ino rolled her eyes, though she smiled. "Here, if it's any consolation, we made breakfast. We decided to wait for you, but you took so long to way up, so we…well, you know the rest," Ino waved her hand, as if to shrug off the subject. "Anyway, you wanna go eat now?"

She threw the gravel out the window into the snow and wiped her hands off.

"For the question, heck yes! But as for that window…AGH, close it please! It's freezing!" Sakura rubbed her upper arms.

"Right, sorry." Ino put her weight on the window the close it, but it wouldn't go down. "Huh, that's really weird….it came up perfectly." Ino kept trying to push it down, but nothing. "Hey, could you guys give me a hand here?" She looked at her friends. They rushed over to help push the window down.

"Geez, is it frozen open or something?" Tenten asked, as she ran along the creases with a kunai.

"I have no- Agh, Sakura watch where you're step-AGH!"

Sakura, in her franticness had accidentally tripped up Ino, accidentally pushing her out the window.

"Oh my god!!!!!!" Sakura flung her head out the window and looked down. _She's sure to have fallen in the snow, but jeez! Could I be anymore of a klutz?_

"Ino! Are you alright?" Hinata squeaked, poking her head out the window. However, when they looked down, Ino had not even fallen in the snow. In fact…

She had fallen right into Shikamaru's arm.

What the hell? 

Sakura wrinkled her brow. "Holy crap…" she called down, noticing the rest of the boys were by his side, still wearing their usual less-than-warm clothes. Boys…they never get cold. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, that's one way to thank us for saving Ino!" Sasuke called back up sarcastically.

"Um, hello?" Sakura grinned back. "I believe it was Shikamaru who saved her, not you!"

Sasuke knew she was teasing him, so he merely folded his arms over his chest and walked smiled back. Sakura shook her head.

"Not gonna work this time!" She laughed down at him. Sasuke snapped his fingers in "damn it" motion. The hottie pose used to get her every time.

"It was worth a try!" He called back up.

"We'll be right down alright?" Tenten called down at the boys. "Take care of Ino till then!"

"Yes, we'll take care of Ino for the full thirty seconds it'll take you to get down here," Neji said back, not bothering to raise his voice.

"Well aren't you the little comic," Tenten shouted down before turning her head out the window.

She and Hinata turned to go out the door and downstairs, but were interrupted.

"Um, guys?"

They turned on their heels to see Sakura standing there, gesturing downwards towards her pink nightgown.

"Oh…" Tenten giggled sheepishly. "Right!"

"Uh, huh, right," said Sakura, rolling her eyes. "Wait a second, I need to get outta this thing!" She ran to her drawers to pull out some cute clothes. Sasuke was in fact down there after all, and she needed her clothes to compensate for her less-than-tamed morning hairstyle.

"Ok, well hurry up!" Tenten said back, as she and Hinata began bouncing on their heels impatiently.

"Ok, just hold your horses!"

Tenten and Hinata began to move their heads every which way, as they dodged clothes that were being thrown back by Sakura, followed by a string of "No…no…DEFINITELY NOT..no!"s.

They sighed. They should have fixed this morning routine of hers a long time ago.

Down there with the guys… 

"You alright?" Shikamaru asked Ino, looking down at her reddening face.

"Uh, yeah, just freezing is all," she replied in a shaky voice.

"Well, it's not wonder…" he said back, as his eyes lingered down to her clothing ensemble without his controlling. Sasuke, Neji and Naruto also looked away fast and turned slightly red, as if they happened to walk in on a girl in a changing room.

Ino was confused and party embarrassed at first, until she looked down and actually got a good look at what she was wearing.

_Damn it Ino! _Ino mentally slapped herself. _Skimpy black tank and pink short shorts? AND IN WINTER??? Or to make that sentence more vivid, in your crush's ARMS, in the SNOW, in the WINTER, with his not-too-bad-looking friends?????_

"Oh, um, right," Ino said nervously as she rubbed the back of her head, her eyes darting around, looking for something, anything, she could use to avert the subject from her barely-there jammies.

Then she found it. And what it was, was that Shikamaru had failed to put her down after catching her. She blushed to notice where his hands happened to be. One hand was on her upper-thighs, while the other was wrapped around the back of her torso, coming around to the side, just barely low enough to be modest.

Damn, was she happy Sakura's parents weren't home.

"Um…" she said, looking at the placement of his hands.

"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry," Shikamaru said as he slowly slipped his hands off her, dropping her to her feet. Ino felt her blood in the veins of her foot immediately ice over as she put her feet down. She was wearing socks, but they were now wet and icy, which was just as bad as being barefoot. She crossed her arms over and rubbed her upper-arms.

"Hey!" They all heard. They turned their heads to see Sakura, Tenten and Hinata walking out the front door.

"It's about time!" Naruto said.

"Seriously," agreed Neji with a slight scoff as the icy vapor loomed out of his mouth.

"Well, more than thirty seconds huh?" Tenten teased, with a raised eyebrow.

"Narrow escape…" he said back with a slight grin. _That's Tenten. Always the only girl willing to snap back at me. I wonder…naw, I mean it was me who said she wasn't interested in anyone at the moment. She even told me herself. Oh well, what happens happens. _

"Hey guys!" Sakura chirped in her flirty voice. Her friends raised their eyebrows. They had not heard that voice for awhile. One and a half years to be exact. Back when she was trying to get the attention of… "Hey Sasuke," she said in a slightly lighter voice, having learned years ago of Sasuke's hatred for his perky fangirls.

"Hey," Sasuke nodded. Sakura was pleased to see his eyes scan over her clothes. She was wearing corduroys, a light pink sweater with a matching scarf. She had on some light brown eyeliner and mascara, along with light pink lip gloss. She was also wearing some fashion-y white boots that had fur at the tops. _Hey! _Thought Ino. _Those are mine! _Then she glanced at Sasuke also, and as Sakura was right then, was happy so see his eyes widen upon seeing Sakura. _Ah, I see…well, all is fair in love and war. Hm. Never thought I'd ever say that. It's funny how people can change. But one things never changes…I'm going to have to give Sakura some tips on how to apply eyeliner correctly. _

"So, what's up?" he asked her, in a slightly more nervous voice.

"Not much!" she said back with a dazzling smile, nearly wiping Sasuke off his feet. He immediately composed himself. _Must…not…stare. I know she may not be interested anymore, but if she wasn't, why would she just walk out here wearing a drop dead gorgeous outfit? Perhaps…_

"Hey, Sakura, just wake up?" Naruto greeted his former team mate.

"Hi Naruto! And um, no of course not! I've been up for hours. Making…breakfast for the girls, you know!" She smiled again, and looked at her friends for backup. _Oh. Pfft. She's like that with everybody. _His interested face immediately fell.

At this, Sakura frowned also. _No! I thought I had him with this clothing choice! Ugh, same old Sasuke. Who was I kidding? _

However, her friends, being totally awesome, still came to her defense to play along with her act to impress.

"Um, yeah!" said Tenten, patting her stomach ever so slightly. Luckily, she and Hinata had already dressed without troubles earlier that morning.

"Deelish," Ino nodded a bit too quickly.

"A fine cook Sakura is!" Hinata nodded also, but softly.

"Ah," Naruto said, glancing at Hinata, expecting her to have a sharp breath intake as she usually did, but she didn't this time.

Instead, she simply smiled a tender smile and said, "Hello, Naruto. Did you sleep well?"

Naruto was surprised. _She really has gotten a lot more confident. Are there classes for this kind of stuff? If so, she'd have aced that frickin class._

"Um, yeah…" he said, this time him being the one not able to find words to reply with. Hinata however, took this as a sign off discomfort.

"I mean, with the time difference and everything," she said quickly to cover up what she saw as a mistake. _Agh! 'Did you sleep well?' I wish I'd had a video cam or something, so I could play it over and over to laugh as how stupid I just sounded, and maybe feel the least bit better about this whole thing._

"Oh, I know!" Naruto cleared up with a small wave of his hand. Hianta looked away though, feeling all the confidence she had been striving to muster all morning flood away from her.

_Hm. Still scared of me. I'd be too. _Naruto's excitement fell.

They all knew what that was. For some odd reason, each of them were feeling their hearts give a jump slightly upon seeing one another again.

Maybe for the guys, it was seeing the girls now matured, kinder, and yes, more filled out. Besides, the time interval had piqued their interests a bit, even if they doubted the girls would return their interest. They were in fact the most coveted girls in Konoha. Every guys who's gone out with one had considered the girl as a trophy. Which is just one of the many reasons the boys plan on kicking their asses.

And for the girls, it might have been seeing the guys now broader, more muscular, tall, and with much lower, smoother voices. Tenten couldn't help but notice that puberty hadn't scathed Neji's sexy edge to his voice a bit. Hinata was more than happy to hear Naruto's voice finally become low. Though she cared for him, she would still get pretty annoyed with the high pitch of his voice. Sasuke and Shikamaru's were pretty standard, but none the less silky.

In other words, it was as if they had all dispersed as kids, and met up again as young adults, now seeing one another in a new light.

But there was still another thing they all had in common. Both groups had no idea of the others feelings for them. (AN: FOOLS.)

Seeing as it was a lost cause, Shikamaru decided to break the unnerving silence.

"Hey, we were about the catch a movie, you girls wanna come?" He asked casually.

"HELLS YEAH YOU GUYS SHOULD COME!" Naruto bounded into the air. "There were no theaters back in the sand country! Besides, it'll be like old times, when we all used to go to movies together!"

The girls all laughed and looked at one another. It definitely would be like old times.

"Of course we're in!"

"Sure!"

"Yeah!"

"Yes, thank you!"

All the girls chorused these lines at once.

"Alright," said Sasuke. "Let's go then. We're gonna be late-"

"Hey, wait a split second," Tenten said, putting her hands up. The boys turned to look at her.

"What?"

"What exactly were you guys doing at Sakura's house in the first place?" She asked suspiciously.

The boys all blushed and looked at their feet.

"Well, you know," said Naruto, kicking the snow. "We were gonna ask you to do something anyway, the new saw Ino hanging out the window, and Shikamaru here pounced into action," Naruto hitched his thumb at Shika. Shika turned redder than what the cold had already done to his face. Ino felt a hopeful jump of her insides, but didn't let it show.

"I didn't 'pounce into action', I just decided that it would be a real brutal fall," he covered up, though it was far from telling the truth. Ino's insides instantly dropped. Oh well.

"Uh huh, well I guess we were just in the right place at the right time," Neji concluded. "Now let's go," he turned and went. The boys followed, and as did the girls quickly. As they did, they were overjoyed.

_Just like old times._

Though they would not have admitted it right then, they wanted it to be more than just old times.

"Wait!" said Ino. They all turned.

"What?" Shikamaru looked at her.

"I sorta have to change…"

"Oh…right."

**I hope you liked it, more climax coming up, I solemnly swear!!! R and R guys!**


	4. Melodrama and Bribery

**WARNING. SOME MAJOR OOC COMING UP. Please please please please don't comment against me for it, but sometimes, to make a good chapter you have to have some OOCness. Please don't be mad!**

Chapter 4:

**Melodrama and Bribery**

The guys and girls were waiting in the ridiculously long ticket line in front of the theater. It was freezing outside and snowy, and the girls in their excitement had not brought sufficient winter coats, although Ino did run back rather quickly after just realizing she had to change out of her pajamas (perhaps there was something else going on inside of her warming her…)

"Y-you sure this is the only theater in town?" Tenten asked the guys, shivering.

"Yep," Neji answered.

"Great," the girls said in unison as their eyes lolled back into their head. Same old same old…the world went around, and the movie theater in Konoha was always jam-packed on Saturdays. And people were rather eager to see the new romance movie out, just in time for the holidays.

"Well, we could do what we always used to do," suggested Naruto in an evil tone.

"What do you…oh no, Naruto, you're not thinking of sneaking in," Hinata said, realizing what he had meant.

"Dude, remember last time we tried that?" Sasuke growled at him.

"Getting snagged by security? Not being able to come back for three months? Ring any bells, Naruto?" Sakura asked, clonking him on the head.

"You wanna see this movie or not?" Naruto attempted reasoning as he rubbed his head. They reluctantly nodded their heads.

"And do you want to wait out here in the nipping cold just to see it?" He asked again. Synchronized shaking of the heads followed.

"Then it's settled," he said, starting towards the alley around the corner of the theater.

"Na-naruto!" Hinata and the girls called at him nervously.

"Old habits die hard!" he called back from around the corner. The girls looked to the boys who were in thought.

After a while, Shika came to a conclusion.

"Well…guess it's out only option," said Shikamaru starting towards the path Naruto had taken, along with Neji and Sasuke. Ino's mouth hung open.

"I thought you guys were geniuses!" she said. "Have you any idea how much trouble we'll get in? I personally, don't want to spend the holidays in the slammer."

"I agree with Ino," Sakura said, taking her friend's side.

"What happened to old times?" Neji tested.

"Well…old times can be overrated," replied Tenten in a lower voice.

"Look, just," Sasuke simply gave up the convincing and just grabbed Sakura's wrist and pretty much dragged her.

"No, no you don't…" Ino said as she, Tenten and Hinata backed away from the evil looking boys.

Sure enough, the boys grabbed the girl's wrists and dragged them also. Hinata trailed behind reluctantly as they all entered the alleyway that passed to the back of the theater.

_So the fun begins._

(Que "Mission Impossible" theme)

The girls crept silently behind the boys, trying not to kick too much snow as they walked.

Naruto led them through the alleyway, and finally arrive at some metal stairs that led to a door that read "STAFF ONLY".

"Pfft," whispered Naruto. "Doesn't apply to us."

"But-" Tenten began when Neji silenced her with his hand. She turned to face him, but he just offered that stern look of his that told her to be quite. She succumbed, knowing there was no swaying these guys' opinions.

Naruto slightly creaked the door open. The girls squint their eyes shut, all thinking the same things. _This is a positively absolutely terribly bad idea…_

To Naruto's happiness, the door was unlocked.

"Score one for the rookie nine!" He hissed in triumph. Neji cleared his throat. "Oh…plus you guys…minus Shino and Kiba…"

"Just get in already!" Sasuke shoved Naruto through the doorway. The rest of the followed after, glancing around cautiously as they went.

When they all came through, they were in the top left hand corner of the theater. Perfect.

"Over this way," Naruto said, gesturing to the top row of seats that was left empty. They all sat down and leaned back.

But after a few minutes, they could tell something was odd about this picture.

"Um, guys?" Ino asked with a raised brow.

"What?" they all asked at once.

"I don't think this is the movie we intended to see…" She gestured at the screen. All their heads turned to look at what was happening.

The boy's jaws set as the title of the movie formed out of a bunch of fluffy clouds.

"Care Bears Go to Paris."

Neji's eye twitched. "What…is…this?"

"This must have been why the theater was so empty…" Shikamaru sighed as he hung his head back.

"Nice going Naruto!" Sasuke kicked Naruto's foot with his own. "Score one for the rookie nine…" he mimicked.

"Well I wouldn't be talking," said Sakura. "You didn't exactly protest."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't have led you all into any random door I could find!"

From there, the bickering began.

"SSSSSSHHHH!" the small kids who were in the movie theater hissed at them roughly.

"Sorry!" Hinata said softly back. They just scowled, shook their heads and looked back.

"Even five-year-olds think you guys are pathetic," Tenten laughed.

"Bah, whatever, bad move on my part ok?" Naruto whispered, standing up. "Come on."

"What now?" Sakura asked.

"We're going to find a better movie."

The girl's mouths hung open. Again.

"Naruto!" they all hissed in unison.

"If it wasn't bad enough what just happened now, might I add, that was when we were coming in from outside, how do you think things are going to go when we try all that inside???" Ino asked.

"Live life on the edge will ya?" Shikamaru whispered in her ear.

"Not when I know I will fall off," she replied, shaking her head.

"You won't," he whispered back. His voice was so clear stern; Ino could not bring her to argue with it. "I won't let you."

Ino smiled. "If you would it that way," she said.

"Sasuke! Even you?" Sakura asked him incredulously.

"Hey, we're training to be spies remember?" he asked.

"Yes, but a dopey Konoha movie theater is different, it's not an enemy base!" Sakura explained as they walked down the aisle way. "We can't just army roll around through peoples legs and get away!"

"I know," Sasuke stated as he turn his neck to face her, though he did not turn his back. "But that's what you guys said all those years ago too."

This is what really made Sakura succumb._ Damn him! Always being right like that._

Neji's eye was still twitching as they exited the isle.

"Earth to Neji?" Tenten waved a hand in his face. He grabbed her wrist.

"Please, Tenten," he said. "I'm already scarred enough upon seeing multicolored talking bears dance around on rainbows. I don't need a waving object in front of my face." He looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Sorry," Tenten smirked. "I forgot you don't take kindly to fluffy mushy stuff."

"Who said I don't?" Neji challenged her. "We're talking multicolored bears who dance on rainbows here. If you ask me, I reserve the right to feel scarred."

"Whatever you say," she said back.

Neji raised an eyebrow. _Is that was she thinks? That I can't be mushy…or fluffy, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. I'll prove to her some day, just you wait…_

Naruto stopped at the doors and turned to everyone.

"Alright," he said. "On the count of three, we're going to sprint outta this place and into the theater across, got it?"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Hinata squeaked.

"It'll be fine, ok?" Naruto told her. "It always is."

"…Most of the time," she added.

"Don't worry. Three…Two…" they all braced themselves. "ONE!"

They all burst out the doors like mad people and ran straight forward to the doors facing opposite them.

They flew by some people who simply stopped, looked at the title of the movie they came out of, and looked at one another.

"I told you that movie was scary!"

Meanwhile, the kids made it safely into the theater and immediately concealed themselves in a shadowed over aisle. They heard the door open, as if someone had been looking in, then they heard it close, with someone saying something like "…pesky kids."

"No that wasn't so bad was it?" Naruto asked them. The girls smirked. Same routine as usual.

"Now that that's done…perhaps we should go up and see what movie we actually ran into," Shikamaru offered. They all followed his lead and walked up the aisle.

They gulped when they reached the top. Not only was the theater totally packed, but also the movie was a cheesy, melodramatic love movie that involved "Oh Jeremy!" and "Oh Lydia!"s.

"Um…" The boys all blushed. Of course of all the movies that could have been playing in the two theaters they were in, one was the care bears movie, and the other was a cheesy romance movie.

But they sure as hell weren't about to try to sneak into another theater after having a narrow escape the first time.

"We might as well just watch it," shrugged Sakura. The girls nodded in agreement and followed her as they looked for seats. The boys were at first dumbfounded, before they remembered that girls aren't uncomfortable about these kinds of movies. In fact, they _liked _them.

But just the thought of seeing it _alongside_ the girls made their knees go weak.

"What are you waiting for?" Tenten mouthed at them.

"Live life on the edge!" Ino mocked, looking at the red Shikamaru.

The boys looked at one another. Neji sighed.

"I guess we owe to them, after all," he said. The boys all accepted the defeat and followed the girls.

They took the only seat that had eight empty ones in a row. Unfortunately, when there are that many seats to spare, that usually meant that those seats are particularly unwanted for a good reason.

And these happened to be those seats that were right up close to the screen, the ones no one ever sits in.

But to hell with that. At least there were seats.

They sat down. The order went Hinata, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten and Neji. (AN: Don't ask how they happened to sit like that, but I couldn't figure out any other way to have the couples end up next to one another.)

The movie was about half way through, and the climax was pretty high.

"_How could you Greggor?" The heroine spun around to face a tall man with handsome features. Snow glistened down upon them, but the cold could not temper the heat within her._

"_What on earth are you saying Marie?" The man looked at her in disbelief. _

The boys wrinkled their brows. This was obviously set in the early nineteen hundreds.

"_You disappear for two long years, no letters, no visits, no NOTHING," the woman began._

The boys shifted in their seats. This was sounding strangely familiar.

_"Then you return, and put me under the belief that we just maybe are developing into…something." She said this softly. Then her voice got rough. "And you turn around and have an affair with that Michelle Robinson!"_

_Ok…that part in particular wasn't exactly something they could relate to. Or…hoped it wouldn't be. They looked at the girls, who were into the movie already, their eyes gleaming at the drama._

_"Marie!" Greggor protested, stabilizing her frail body by her shoulders. "You know very well that I live for one woman, and one woman only and that is you. I was drunk that night, Marie. I had no idea what I was doing, and even then, she was the one who came on to me." The man attempted to explain. "Please understand, Marie!" he pleaded, as he fell to his knees and took her hand._

_"Save it!" she snatched her hand away. "You don't need me. You made that quite clear last night." Her voice grew soft as she began to tear._

_"Marie," the man gently put his hand on her cheek. "I had never meant to hurt you when I said we could never be. Although it is true I will always care about you…things are too demanding. I know that. You know that," he said. He pulled her into an embrace._

Oh great, the Sasuke thought. It's going to get lovey dovey from here on out.

_"But…I just wish things were different…" she sobbed into his chest._

_"I know you do…" he rubbed the back of her hair. "But maybe just tonight…they can be."_

_Marie pulled away and looked at him._

_"What are you saying Greggor?" she now asked him._

_"Come with me," he said seductively. "And you'll see." He led her into his house._

Right then, the guys knew it, the girls knew it. The inevitable soapy sex scene was coming up.

The boys were sweating as the hero and heroine went from tender hearted kisses to hungry make outs of desire.

Each of them tried to look impassive as they watched this, but for some reason, couldn't fight the flame that seemed to be burning inside of them, swaying towards the girl on their left.

Shikamaru felt around the armrests to grip the ends. When he found it, he was relieved._ Hm…this is a really soft armrest. Pretty warm too. WAIT…too soft. Too warm. Oh god, don't tell me…_

He didn't need to look down to know that he had just grabbed Ino's hand in the middle of watching a sex scene, but he did anyway. He blushed as he looked down at it, and he could tell Ino was too, though she was staring straight, acting as if she wasn't aware of what he was doing. And for some reason…he didn't want to let go.

This was setting stuff off in Ino's head. _Oh my god…is there a possibility that he's turned or something? I can't imagine Shikamaru turned on. First he catches me, now he's holding my hand…it's like he came back a totally different person. But I like it._

Neji wasn't blinking. Not that he ever did really, if you think about it, but it was becoming clear his eyes weren't used to seeing this stuff. Tenten noticed too.

_"You're…amazing."_

_"You too."_

"Why do women find this stuff appealing?" he asked, still looking forward.

Tenten giggled. "What, you mean why they find sex appealing?"

"No," Neji said. "Why they find other people have sex appealing." His faced still remained unwrinkled in any way.

"Well…I guess it's just…" Tenten blushed, not knowing exactly how to answer that question. In fact, she always wondered why herself. But also, maybe she knew the reason, but it would be too uncomfortable to talk about with Neji. "We're only human."

"I noticed. But that doesn't explain why people like watching it so much," he said back slowly.

"Eh…I just can't explain it I guess," Tenten admitted embarrassingly.

"Good," Neji said to her surprise. She looked at him oddly. What did he mean good?

"Huh?" she asked. He actually turned to face her and looked right into her eyes.

"Because if you could," he began. This time, he was looking so deeply into her eyes, this moment alone could have been a melodramatic movie. "Then you wouldn't be the Tenten I've known for seven years." He looked back at the movie, his face less tense.

Tenten was left speechless, yet happy. _That's good to hear Neji…but you'll never even know how good._

She turned back to the movie and watched.

Sakura was bewildered as she studied Sasuke's current facial expression. She didn't know whether to be amused or horrified at the fact that he looked like he was…enjoying the scene.

"Psst, Sasuke," Sakura nudged Sasuke in his arm.

"Huh? Oh," Sasuke composed himself and went back to looking unfazed. "Yeah?"

"You alright over there?" she grinned. Sasuke almost sweat at the grin.

_Thank you very much, my dead family members up in heaven laughing at me! Thanks for landing me in a situation where I'm in a dark movie theater watching a love making scene, with a hott girl next to me, seeing my gawking. Wait…did I just call Sakura a hott girl? Jeez, I so gotta get out of here. No wonder girls are so guy obsessed. They watch these types of movies 24/7!_

"Me? I'm fine. Just looking forward to the end of this…is all," he said as he slumped down in his chair.

"Well, ok then," said Sakura with a shrug.

You could just guess what Naruto's reaction was to these scenes.

"Daaaaamn, that chick's hott," Naruto did a low whistle. Hinata turned to him in disbelief.

"Naruto!" Hinata said silently at his loud thoughts.

"What?" he turned to her, looking confused in the I-have-absolutely-no-idea-why-what-I-just-said-was-bad-to-say manner.

"That's disrespec-" she stopped. _Oh no, oh no, not that! Anything but the innocent oblivious look!_

Naruto was looking at her like he was a fawn, who had just been approached by a human. His eyes were large, glassy and curious, and his head was cocked to one side. Hinata couldn't even dream of scolding him when he was looking like that.

"Yeah, Hinata?"

"Um…let's try not to talk so much ok? I think the people behind us are getting short with us," she put up a sloppy, yet sufficient defense. Naruto looked behind them to see a couple crying at what had happened earlier in the movie. They did not exactly look like they were short with anybody at that moment. Maybe a blubbering mass of tears, but not short with them.

"Um…ok, I'm sorry Hinata," he apologized sincerely with a meaningful look before turning back to the movie.

Hinata looked down at her lap sheepishly. She kind of regretted saying that. _I always feel so embarrassed around him like that. I always have to go make some wise remark instead of letting him just be the fun person he is. He must think I'm so weird._

Naruto was looking at the screen, but was not paying attention to it anymore. _I always feel so embarrassed around her like that. I always have to go fool around and act immature, and she always needs to put me in my place. She must think I'm so weird._

(AN: I know, I know guys…they're fools. All eight of them. They have absolutely no clue.)

In the morning in the move:

_"I love you Greggor," The woman said, looking into his eyes as she lay on her side facing him._

_"I love you too, Marie."_

"Well, you'd think they'd made that clear last night!" Shikamaru said aloud, earning him a "sssssssh!" from the blubbering masses of tears surrounding them. Ino laughed though.

The movie pretty much ended with the two confessing their love to the world and getting married, and by the end, the boys felt like they had withstood a hurricane. The girls eyes were watering though as they stood up.

"So sweet…" Ino said romantically as she put her hands over her heart.

"I know, right?" sighed Sakura in agreement.

The boys listened to them chatter as they left the theater.

The girls were behind enough for the boys to talk without being heard by them.

"So…" began Neji. "Did you guys feel it too?"

"That's sick, Neji," said Shikamaru scrunching up his nose. "I expect that from Naruto, but from you?"

"Don't make me barf, Nara!" Defended Neji. "I didn't mean that, I meant…with them." He kept his head forward but turned his eyes back to the girls (AN: Not like back in his head, but like…turned.)

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said quietly as he looked away. "I did."

"Mmhmm," was all Sasuke said, which for him was a resounding yes.

"Well, duh, I did," said Naruto obviously. The boys all sighed.

"Well, they seemed sort of…giddy too, right?" Shikamaru asked hopefully, kicking a wadded up napkin someone left on the ground

"Sorry Shikamaru, but it was the man in that movie they got so excited over," Neji broke it to him as he looked at the ceiling. "Not anything having to do with our presence."

The guys breathed out as they walked and the girls jib-jabbed behind them. When the girls were done with their chattering they caught up to the guys.

"You know what Naruto?" Sakura said happily as she came up behind him. "You're right. That was worth it." Naruto half-grinned.

"Told ya so," he sang obnoxiously. Sakura bonked him on the head jokingly.

As they walked out of the actual movie part of the theater, they heard a voice.

"Hey! You kids!"

They all froze. Frick. Busted. Just when they were seconds away from freedom.

Ino looked at the exit door longingly. Oh lord, how close they were…Troublesome. What a drag…that thought made her mentally slap her self. What the hell?

It was then the source of the voice, a tall, ticket man walked over.

"I'm sorry kids, but I don't believe you purchased- SASUKE UCHIHA? NARUTO UZAMAKI? SHIKAMARU NARA? NEJI HYUUGA? IS THAT YOU GUYS?" The man went quickly from a disciplinary state to an overjoyed one.

"Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head.

"That's right!" said the man, now lifting his chin further so the kids could more vividly see his mask. That was Kakashi all right.

"You work at a movie theater?" Tenten asked. Kakashi froze and his face fell.

"Um…yeah, well, I needed a job the side since being a jounin wasn't cutting it for my budget exactly…"

He was hiding something and they all knew it. Kakashi was a terrible liar.

"What exactly are you in dept with, Kakashi?" Shikamaru sighed, making Kakashi's explanation easier. Kakashi looked at the ground ashamed.

"Alright! I got a new house."

Silence followed.

"Ok, a house. I don't see why a jounin's pay doesn't cover that," said Neji, crossing his arms tightly.

"Well, you don't really understand…" Kakashi said even more bashfully.

"What are you saying Kakashi?" asked Sakura, as Kakashi was letting on to the fact that the issue was a bit deeper than a house.

"Err…walk with me," he said, leading them no more than five feet before he said, "SIT."

They all sat abruptly on a bench as Kakashi looked at his feet.

"It's a kind of…big house, alright?"

"Like big, meaning huge?" asked Naruto. Everyone looked at him dumbly. Well no, duh!

"Huge. Like, mansion huge." Kakashi hung his head even more with every word.

"Just sell the house then if you can't afford it!" resolved Ino. A blush crept up Kakashi's face, confusing them all.

"Well, you see, I can't do that," he said. "It was kind of…a gift."

The girls all mouthed the word "oh" as they smiled excitedly. The boys were mystified though.

"A gift for whom, might I ask?" Neji asked.

"Well boys, in the time you were gone…AnkoandIgotmarriedandsodidAsumaandKurenai."

The boys blinked. Kakashi said that as if it all were one word. It took the ma few seconds to process what he had said.

"Wait wait wait…" said Shikamaru. "All of you married? WITHIN A YEAR? When did the chemistry even form???"

"It was always there," Kakashi said simply. "You just didn't notice. And we all just decided last year it was time to tie the knot."

An awkward silence passed as the boys thought on this. Great. Their sensei's love life was going smoother than theirs.

"Well…" began Naruto. "Wait to go Kakashi sensei!!!" he slapped him a high five. "I get it…so you're planning on revealing to her this huge mondo house as a Christmas gift? Might I say Kakashi, you outdo yourself when it comes to the ladies!"

Kakashi blushed and nodded in the 'I know, right?' kind of way, but obviously didn't say that.

The girls laughed. That was the Naruto they knew and loved.

"Yeah, thanks Naruto," Kakashi said. The boys were starting to get sick of sitting on their butts constantly, and stood up.

"Well, it was nice talking to you again Kakashi, but we really must be going now," said Neji as they all started to walk to the doors.

"Bye!" they all said in unison.

"WAIT!!!" Kakashi's voice brought them back. They crept back to see him twiddling his thumbs.

"Um, can you guys do me a favor?" he asked nervously. They all looked at one another then nodded slowly

"What'd you have in mind?" Ino asked.

"Well, at the academy we're having this event we started three years ago called 'Winter Wonderland,'" he began. The teens nodded.

"Go on," said Sasuke.

"Well, a lot of the staff is away for the holidays, and we're gonna need some help setting things up, planning and putting it into action in general. Think you guys can lend us a hand?" He pleaded.

"Well…what will the job require?" Shikamaru asked for all of them.

"Oh, not much," said Kakashi. "Well…sort of a lot you could say. Depends how you look at it. The whole thing is basically a large festival in the auditorium with food, drink, dancing, the whole shebang. Then there is this tunnel we set up through the hallway, filled with a bunch of Christmas-oriented stuff. That'll need the most work," he informed them. The girls nodded and looked actually excited.

"We'd love to!" they said, glad they wouldn't have to face boredom all break until the holidays rolled around.

The boys thought for a second though, and Sasuke being Sasuke, asked the question they were all expecting.

"What's in it for us?"

Kakashi thought on his toes. "Well, if you help out, we'll make it worth your while," he said, rubbing his index finger to his thumb to indicate mullah.

"You said you were in dept," reminded Shikamaru. Kakashi caught his mistake and thought again.

"Um…well, I never said I would. But the staff will surely think of something, I assure you," he said. Phew. Hope that worked. But wait! Ooh hoo hoo hoo, I've got another trick up my sleeve… "Also, if you don't help, I could always inform the theater staff about your having snuck in," he threatened casually.

The boys eyes widened. Naruto sighed.

"You're evil," he said. "But we're in."

"THANK YOU!" Kakashi burst. "You have no idea," he said. "How bout you swing by the academy tomorrow, and we'll get started?"

They all shrugged.

"Sounds good," said Shikamaru.

"Great," said Kakashi enthusiastically as he went back to his post.

The teens all looked at one another after this odd occurrence.

"Well," said Sasuke looked at all of them. "I guess we know where we'll be spending the next couple weeks."

**Again, sorry about the OOCness, but I really hoped you liked the chappie. I don't know when I'll be able to update though, since I'll be in Miami for Thanksgiving break (Long story, don't ask) so please don't be angry if it takes me a bit. Thanks so much!**


	5. Uncertainty

**Hey guys, in a bit I'm leaving and I decided to write a fast chapter so I don't leave you all completely hanging! I hope you like this one!! R and R, if you can!**

Chapter 5:

Uncertainty

They all walked down the snowy sidewalk, hands in pockets, occasionally stealing glances at one another to notice each other's changes.

Before they knew it though, they had arrived at the Hyuuga compound, aka the boy's destination. The girls were depressed for obvious reasons. Sure, the walk was quiet and awkward, but at least it was…nice. Didn't the boys feel the same way?

"Well, looks like we should split," said Sasuke, nodding at the Hyuuga compound.

"Yeah," said Sakura. The girls managed smiles, hiding the fact that they all longed for more time with the boys.

"But we'll see you tomorrow at the academy, right?" Shikamaru checked.

Perhaps there was possibility for some time.

"Of course!" said Ino, perking up. "But…what time?"

That's right. Kakashi never really made it clear what time he was expecting them to arrive. They all thought. _If I were Kakashi…_

"Probably later, like around four," suggested Naruto with a guessing look on his face.

"That's logical," nodded Sakura. "Ok, we'll see you at four tomorrow then?"

"You got it," the boys said before walking through the gates of the Hyuuga compound. The girls were about to turn also when they heard something.

"Umph!" They heard a bump.

"Hinabi, what did I tell you about running around aimlessly?" They heard the cold growl of Neji.

"Sorry brother," she bowed in apology before running off to the girls. Neji and the boys watched her run to them suspiciously. _She better not…_

"Hey Hinabi…what are you doing?" Shikamaru asked skeptically. Hinabi stopped where she was and slowly turned on her heel.

"Um, nothing really!" she called back in her young, high-pitched voice. "I just need to ask Hinata where she put my headphones. I've only got one pair you know!" she called to them in explanation.

Neji rolled her explanation over in his mind to decide whether it was sufficient, and decided it was.

"Alright," he consented, nodding his head. "But after you ask, come right in. It's freezing out here, and for God's sake, put some shoes on next time!" he called to her before the boys walked through the large doors into the building. Tenten smiled. She loved how he cared, but hated showing it. It just made him that much more alluring.

Hinabi looked steadily at the doors until she heard them click shut, and she swung her head quickly to the girls.

"Hinabi," Hinata said in a confused tone. "I never even borrowed your headphones in the first place…you have mine!"

Hinabi nodded. "Yes, yes, I know, but it was the only excuse I could make in the moment," she explained. The girls all looked stunned. For one thing, it was a good lie for someone as young as Hinabi to make on her toes and get passed Neji, and for another, they were anxious to hear what she was planning on telling them.

"I just thought you should know," she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Those guys were talking about you girls _all night long," _she said, putting emphasis on 'all night long'.

The girls immediately went pink.

"Are-are you sure Hinabi?" Hinata asked, not bothering to fight the enthusiasm in her voice.

"Yes I'm sure!" Hinabi jumped. "I was right at the door! They said that they were glad to see you girls again, were afraid you wouldn't welcome them, were glad you did, blah blah blah blah blah…" Hinabi snapped her fingers around to indicate jabbering. "Just stuff about you guys."

At once, all the girls clobbered Hinabi with hugs.

"Hinabi," Hinata said softly. "For once, I'm glad you were gifted in the skill of eavesdropping."

This made Hinabi's cheeks turn jolly and happy. "I was hoping you would say that," she giggled, clapping her small hands together.

The girls looked at each other at first happy, then they slowly fell as they each made a realization.

"What's wrong?" Hinabi asked, her face growing concerned at the sudden change in emotion.

"Well…did they say anything else?" asked Tenten.

"Like…?" Hinabi questioned, motioning her hands in a progressive motion.

"Like…if they felt anything special for us in particular?" Sakura asked softly.

At this Hinabi fell silent.

"Oh," she said quietly, looking away from them. "I'm really really really really sorry…I don't think they said that exactly," she said this last part sympathetically. Noticing the distress in the girl's reactions, she tried to cover up the mistake. "But everything they said basically meant that!"

The girls smiled at Hinabi's attempt to cheer them up, and didn't want to break down right in front of her.

"Thanks, Hinabi," Ino said, smiling. "It's fine, honest. We'll see you later ok?" As she said this, the girls started to turn to walk down the sidewalk, their shoulders slumped.

"Oh…" Hinabi replied. "Well, I'll see you later then! Things will be ok!" Hinabi called to them comfortingly.

The girls smiled.

"We hope so, Hinabi," Tenten said. "We certainly hope so."

_In the Hyuuga Compound...  
_

Hinabi entered the house, goose bumps down her arms, and sadness in her looks. Her arms were crossed over her chest, holding her opposite forearms.

She then entered the living room, where the guys were snacking on popcorn.

"What's with you, Hinata?" Naruto asked, popcorn and kernels falling out if his mouth as he spoke. "You were really perky just a few minutes ago."

Hinabi looked up from her sulk. "Huh? Oh, nothing. Hinata just said she lost the headphones was all," she said. Man, was she a magnificent liar.

"Ah," said Neji, nodding. "And in that full five minutes you were out there, Hinata was telling you that sentence?"

Hinabi froze up beneath the cold that was already biting her skin. _Why was I born with the genius cousin?_

Hinabi may have been a skilled liar, but Neji had her there. There was only one way to go at this point.

"Yes," she said simply. Then she bolted upstairs.

Huh.

The guys all looked after her peculiarly. Well, if that wasn't odd…

"What's with her?" Sasuke asked, sitting up from the reclining chair.

"Don't ask me," said Shikamaru, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

"Well, Neji?" Naruto asked. "What do you think? She is your cousin."

Neji just narrowed his eyes as he thought deep into the possibility set in his mind at that moment. Hm…

"I don't know," he concluded, closing his eyes. "But whatever she told them, I just hope…" he hesitated with the next sentence, not wanting to think about it being true.

"Just hope what?" Shikamaru asked with a raising brow. They all leaned in on him.

Neji reached even deeper into the concept. _My Byakugan didn't pick anybody up in the vicinity last night…so she couldn't possibly have…_

"Nothing," Neji said, waving his hand. "Nothing at all." He looked back at the book he had doggy-eared and started skimming it. All Neji had to do was skim, and he understood every line.

The other three just shrugged as they tended to their popcorn munching.

Little did Neji know, the thought in his mind happened to be the truth.

_At Sakura's house (Time skip…it's now night)_

Ino rolled over in her bed. She rolled over some more, not able to seek comfort in any position (AN: ITS SO IRRITATING WHEN THAT HAPPENS!) Even with the soft bedding of the hospital mattresses, she never was satisfied. Could it have been the thought of what Hinabi had told them earlier, nipping at her subconscious?

She heard a stir from Sakura. Ino quickly whipped her head around to see Sakura looking at her with half-opened eyes, the moonlight making them looked like those of a cat.

"Sorry," Ino whispered. "Did I wake you?" Sakura rolled over onto her side.

"Naw," she answered. "I've been awake as long as you have. I just haven't been as noisy," she whispered back. Ino nodded.

"Oh," she said. "What about Tenten and Hinata?"

"Awake," they heard Tenten say into her pillow, raising her hand.

"Same," said Hinata, rolling over. Ino sat up and crossed her legs in Indian style, as did the rest of them at seeing they were all awake. There was no need to be quiet anymore.

"Here, I'll turn on a light," said Hinata. She clicked one on.

"Agh!"

The light burned into the girl's night-adjusted eyes, as they averted them. Hinata clicked the light off quickly.

"Sorry," she apologized as she hugged her knees.

"It's all right," responded Ino, rubbing her eyes. "So…you guys couldn't sleep either. Is it because of the thing?"

They all knew very well what the 'thing' was she was referring too.

"Yep," said Tenten, looking away.

"What-what do you think?" Sakura said worriedly as she bit her nails. They heard a noise form Hinata, which indicated a yes.

"Should we find it good or bad?" Tenten got straight to the point as she rested her head against the headboard.

"That's what I've been contemplating all night," said Sakura as she drummed her fingers on the comforter.

"Here, maybe it'll be easier to talk if we're not all buried under covers and muffled by night, what do you say?" Ino asked as she slid off her bed. The rest of the girls without argument did the same and followed her.

A few minutes later, they were all sitting around Sakura's kitchen table, in their pajamas, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands.

"Shouldn't we at least be happy they cared about us?" Hinata asked, taking a tiny sip of her cocoa.

"Yeah, but…" Tenten looked for words to justify their anger. "We know they care…we just want more than that you know?"

The rest of them nodded. That pretty much summed up everything they were feeling.

"That Winter Wonderland thing should be fun," said Sakura, changing the subject as she drew her finger around the circumference of the mug.

"Yeah," said Ino. "More time to hang out with the guys, and get into the holiday spirit all at once." She smiled.

"Speaking of the holiday spirit," said Tenten, resting her chin on her palms. "Christmas may be in two and a half weeks, but Hanukah is in a mere week and a half!" she said this giddily. Her friends knew what she was implying, but pretended to be oblivious.

"Meaning you must bring me riches!" she said in a feigned superior voice as she threw napkins at them. They all laughed as they dodged.

"Oh my god," Ino said as she laughed more. "We love you." She patted Tenten's shoulder and hugged her.

"I know," said Tenten cutely as she batted her eyelashes.

"But don't worry," assured Sakura. "We won't forget. We may not be Jewish, but we swear we will celebrate it with you since your family's not around, ok?"

Tenten nodded, grateful to have the friends she had.

"Thanks," she said sincerely. The girls took a few minutes to finish up their cocoa before putting the mugs in the sink, planning on taking care of them in the morning.

"Hey guys," Ino whispered as she climbed under her covers.

"Hm?" they all said back.

"…Tomorrow will be fun," she said positively.

The girls fell asleep with the words echoing in their heads. It certainly will be fun.

**I hope you're liking it so far!!!! I'm off to Miami…(puts on sunglasses) R and R guys, thanks a lot!**


	6. The More the Merrier

**Hey guys- my dad's letting me use his laptop, as he is taking some time off his working to have fun (which for fathers includes running, playing tennis and reading the Wallstreet Journal) THUS, allowing me to use it. I had a lot of thinking for this chapter, but thinking beforehand doesn't often work for me. The inspiration sort of comes as I go. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Oh yeah…I'm sorry I spelt Hanabi the wrong way. That was my bad.**

Chapter 7

The More the Merrier

The girls slept in quite far that morning. They hadn't realized the time when they went to bed, but considering there was no real need to wake up early anyway, didn't care.

Sakura's face was planted in her pillow, crushing her nose in unnatural directions. She would have tolerated it had she not discovered the fact that she had also been drooling into her pillow. _EW, _she thought right away as she sprang up. _Wet…wet…ugh I have to wash my face before this gets all crusty and…AGH I don't even want to think about it._

She worriedly stood up and ran to the bathroom.

In her bed, Ino was sleeping on her side, some sheets bunched up beneath her face. Her head was also half-off her pillow. Feeling her neck ache, she brought herself up to massage it, only to be met with the realization that the side of her face that she slept on was feeling sore.

_Hm? _She ran her fingers around her face and felt ridges. _Oh God, _she thought. _Just what I need are sleeping marks. Today. _

With a groan, she rolled out of her bed, not caring how hard she hit the floor. She simply sprawled herself out and moved her face around. _Not happening…_

Sheet marks were a big deal to Ino, since she had sensitive skin and when they showed up, it took incredibly long for them to fade away.

She walked into the living room write in her diary until she was awake enough to wash up.

Hinata was in the midst of a pleasant dream. She was in an ocean paradise, no cares in the world. Well, that is until the something covered up the tropical sun, darkening the paradise. Hinata looked up to see a gigantic tidal wave coming her way, ready to crush her within seconds. It got lower and lower upon her as it curled, until it finally…

Hinata woke with a start, breathing heavily as she clutched her chest. _Phew, _she thought. _Just a dream. But wait…what's that…? _Hinata moved around to feel wetness around her lower half. _Oh no, don't tell me. _

Hinata, horrified, slowly lifted herself to see a wet spot around her inner thighs, as well as the bed around them. Hinata was flabbergasted. How the hell did she end up peeing the bed at sixteen years old?

"Why me…" she squealed as she carefully got out of her bed and out of her pajama bottoms. She held them out in front of her, _far _in front of her, and left the room to put them in the machine. _Sigh…I'll just take some pants out of the dryer when I get there. _

Next to come to, was Tenten. She was half awake as she lay on her back. Her face twisted uncomfortably as she turned on her side. _Ow, _she thought. She turned on her other side. _Not much better. _She finally decided to feel around her head. She felt the things causing the problem.

_I'm such an idiot! _She mentally slapped herself. _Not once in my entire life have I ever left my buns in overnight! And I just happened to make that mistake last night? Right before we see the guys again? _

Her hands busy trying to tug out her hair things from her tangled-up buns, she slid out of bed onto her legs. She knew if she ever got those out, she would suffer some major bed head. _I'll just go to the kitchen for some scissors and cut them out, _Tenten sighed to herself. She went through this ritual a few times when she was a girl, and was hoping never to have to do it again. But of course…

_Later in the morning…_

Each girl slumped to the kitchen table, pissed off. They had to have been the living proof of the expression "waking up on the wrong side of the bed".

"Frickin drool…" Sakura stabbed at her cereal as she touched her reddened and irritated face.

"Damn lines…" Ino pushed a piece of bread in a toaster as she rubbed one side of her face.

"Stupid tidal wave…" Hinata sprayed herself relentlessly with fibreeze as she drank her orange juice with the other hand.

"Crappy…buns…" huffed Tenten as she struggled to brush her knots out.

They all took a minute to take some breaths in.

"Bad morning?" Sakura suggested to her friends.

"You can't imagine," Tenten replied as she plopped into a chair.

_Oh, yes I can, _each girl thought.

"What time is it anyway?" Ino asked as she wiped some milk off her mouth with her forearm.

"Let's see…" said Hinata, still spraying herself as she referred to the watch on her wrist. "It's about…OH MY GOD!" She nearly spat out her orange juice.

"What?" the girls asked in a panic.

"It's two o'clock!!!" Hinata exclaimed. The girl's mouths dropped open. Had skin been made more flexible, their bottom jaws could have very well hit the floor.

"How late did we sleep in??" Ino asked, jumping to her feet, running out of the room.

"Apparently far enough to set us completely off base!" Sakura said stressfully, leaning back in her chair to look at the ceiling.

"Well what are we supposed to-" Tenten was cut off by some clothes hitting her face. Clothes were also thrown at the other girl's faces.

"We get ready now," said Ino, as she threw some more socks at them. They looked at her confusedly.

"Had you prepared for this situation or something?" Tenten asked, as she held up some surprisingly well-chosen clothes that Ino had thrown at her.

Ino turned red at the question. "You could say that. I guess I just wanted to be ready for today is all," she said lightly as she started changing right there in the kitchen.

"Ino!" Sakura said, averting her eyes. "Thanks, but we don't need a show!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh silly me, I forgot we weren't all girls in here."

"But still…" said Sakura in a grossed out way.

"Eh, who cares," said Tenten started to change. "It'll take too much time otherwise."

Sakura sighed in defeat and they all quickly changed.

"I've got to hand it to you Ino," said Sakura smiling, as she assessed her clothing ensemble (or should we say, Ino's) which consisted of khaki pants, a soft white tee with a soft pink blazer over it. "You really do know clothes."

"I call it fashion Identity. I'm good with it," said Ino, as she finished tucking her jeans into her black, furred inside boots. She then fixed her black shirt before putting a khaki jacket over it.

"That's for sure," agreed Tenten, looking down at her black pants and green sweater set.

"Very nice choices, Ino," said Hinata, looking happily down at her jeans and rhinestone shirt. Ino lent her some too small Uggs also, as she felt Hinata was the only one of them who could pull them off.

"Thanks guys," she replied.

By the time they were all put together in terms of clothing, it was two forty-five.

"Makeup time," said Sakura happily, standing up. She retrieved her fat makeup bag as well as a box from her room and brought it back. "Who wants to be done first?"

"You know how to apply makeup?" Tenten asked flabbergasted. Sakura turned red.

"Yes, I know how to apply makeup! It was just kind of crooked yesterday because I was so nervous," she defended. "Now again, who wants to be done first?"

The girls looked at one another. No one really volunteered, but no one was completely repulsed either.

Sakrua simply sighed as took Hinata by the arm. "You'll be first," she said, sitting her down.

"Ok, so your color is more of the lighter sort…"

_3:15…_

Sakura finished perfecting everyone's makeup, and to their surprise, they looked great.

"Wow," said Ino, looking at the medium dark color scheme Sakura used on her eyes. "You have an eye for colors!"

Tenten and Hinata nodded in agreement as they looked at their reflections in the bathroom mirror, not used to seeing themselves with makeup. They weren't crazy about the trouble it took to put on, but didn't mind the results either.

"I didn't go as all out as I would have any other day," Sakura said, snapping her makeup stuff closed. "I wanted it to look prettier, but in a subtle way. Guys don't know makeup, so they'll notice you're prettier, but not that you're wearing makeup. See what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," said Tenten. "And if they do notice, we have the right to question his straightness."

"Pretty much," laughed Sakura.

"Wait a sec," said Hinata. "I have an idea. Believe it or not, Tenten's good with hair styling," she said, looking at Tenten.

"My pride and shame all at once," admitted Tenten with a roll of her eyes.

"And I'm good with skin care," Hinata continued, gesturing towards Sakura and Ino's marked up faces. "Well, my hair pretty much…stays like this no matter how it's styled, so it won't matter for me. And Tenten can do her hair on her own. So maybe I could wash up you guys's faces to hide the blemishes while Tenten does your hair. It will save a lot of time."

Tenten perked up. "Brilliant idea!" she said this mischievously as she ran to get her hair stuff.

"That'll work!" said Ino perkily as she sat up. Hinata smiled. _Go me._

The morning was becoming increasingly less problematic.

_3:35…_

Sakura and Ino looked at themselves in the mirror and took breath intakes.

Their skin was now smooth and appeared to be unmarked in any way and their hair was done perfectly.

Sakura's hair was pulled up into a beautifully twisty messy bun, and Ino's was straighted more, and parted along the side more.

"Wow…" said Ino, running her hands down her healthier-than-ever-before hair. "Job well done guys…job well done." She whistled.

"I thought you'd say that," said Tenten defiantly, leaning against the doorway as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

"Seriously guys…" agreed Sakura. "We definitely could not have done any better."

"Never a problem," said Hinata, zipping her skin care bag shut as she sighed. "I'm just glad we got all that done in time."

They all sighed in an 'I'll say,' manner.

"What time is it now?" Ino asked, freezing up.

"Three forty," replied Hinata. They all looked up and met each other's gazes, wide eyed.

And without another second of hesitation, they all dashed out the door.

_At the academy…_

The boys all rocked on their feet, meeting each other's curious glances as they heard Kakashi begin speaking.

"Hey guys, so glad you could help!" He bounded over happily. "Thanks for coming. But wait, where are the girls?" he asked.

"Beats us," said Neji, peering at the door. The boys looked at each other again. Was this some message the girls were trying to get across?

"Oh," said Kakashi in a depressed manner. "Oh well," he shrugged. "That's alright. I got other helpers too. I was talking with Anko about it last night, and she told me about her four nieces who were free all break, so I just figured 'the more the merrier'! No pun intended…woohoo! I'm funny!" Kakashi said this as he slapped his knees.

The boys were unfazed until they heard the words 'four neices'.

"Four nieces?" Naruto repeated.

"That's what I said," Kakashi nodded. "Here, I'll introduce you. Girls!" he called to the craft closet at the opposite wall of the auditorium.

"Yes?" replied the voices that belonged to four girls.

"Come on out now! There are some guys I want you to meet!" He called back to the closet.

"Ok!" They all said back.

The boys were bored, anxious, and confused at the other girl's absence. Where could they have gone? Their minds were focused entirely on the door.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet my soon-to-be-nieces, Clarissa, Whitney, Courtney and Molly."

At least, their minds were focused on the door until they brought their heads up to see these four girls.

At very first sight, those girls had the guy's attention without question.

**Naughty guys, I know! So unfaithful! Anyways, I don't know when I'll get the chance to update again, but I hope you guys liked the chapter. Also, I really hope you all had great Thanksgivings! Mine was pretty good I guess. But my cousins eat like nothing so I couldn't bring myself to eat much either. Anyways again, thanks for reading, R and R!**


	7. The Nieces Work Their Magic

**I'D LIKE TO DECLARE THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOU READ IN THIS CHAPTER CONCERNING THE GUY'S FEELINGS FOR THE NEICES, THE GUYS WILL NOT AND NEVER WILL BE PAIRED WITH THEM! Ever. I would have to drink cyanide if I did that. So don't worry if you see a lot of guyxneice action here, because the guys WILL end up with the good girls! I never pair anyone with an OC in my stories. Just a heads up so there's no panic. Read up!!!**

Chapter 7:

The Nieces Work their Magic

"Hurry up!"

The girls were running, no, fumbling down the snowy sidewalk as they sprinted to the academy.

They were approaching a crosswalk, and the walk sign had been green for a while. And the girls could tell it was going to turn red at any minute.

"MUST…GET THERE…" Tenten said as all the girls ran to it with all they could, closing the gap faster and faster, just a few steps left and…

RED.

Right there. The girls groaned as they slid to a stop, waiting for vehicles to pass (AN: there will be cars in this story).

"Great, just great." Ino was breathing fire. "How late are we now?"

"Five minutes at this point," answered Hinata, dreading the time upon the face of her watch.

The girls groaned further.

"We seriously need cars guys," said Sakura.

_At the academy…_

The boys could not tear their eyes away. Oh yeah, they tried, but couldn't.

"How you doing?" asked one of them cutely, doing a small curtsey. "My name's Mollie."

"F-f-fine!" stumbled Naruto, his eyes feeding upon the small black haired girl who was wearing a long blue flowwy skirt, complete with a white polo.

"What's up?" asked a sporty brunette coolly, as she made eyes at Neji. "Courtney." Neji hated girls making eyes at him. No, he flat out despised it. But at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to argue with it.

"Hey," chirped a perky average lengthed purple-haired girl. "I'm Clarissa." She smiled an alluring smile at Sasuke as she leaned on her hip, hooking a thumb on the pocket of her jeans. Sasuke grinned back the grin he only used with one other person (guess who?)

"Hello there," said a long flaxen-haired girl flirtatiously to the boys, but quite obviously pointedly looking at Shikamaru's biceps. "I'm Whitney!"

The boys just stood there as they gulped. They all managed a tolerable 'hey,' back, but no more. They were too dazed by the attraction. If not that, then their hatred toward the attraction they were feeling.

"Ooh, looks to me like you'll hit it off just fine!" pestered Kakashi, nudging the guys knowingly.

The boys tried as they might to push the thoughts out of their heads, but to no avail.

The girls just flashed incredibly bright smiles as they giggled at the boys.

And so they went on staring at each other.

"Ahem?" Kakashi cleared his throat to get their attention. They all snapped out of it and looked at him. "Yes, well we should get started now I believe. How about…"

Kakashi squinted his eye and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked at each of them, then to the areas that needed work.

"Ah," he said as the thought struck him. "How about Sasuke and Clarissa work on the cakewalk part," he began, pointing to a corner of the auditorium. Sasuke felt his saliva catch in his throat.

"Um, boy girl?" he asked questioningly. Kakashi shrugged.

"Well, I thought it would give you guys a good chance to get to know one another. Well, that is until the girls come," Kakashi answered, looking at the door hopefully. But no girls. He simply sighed and continued. "Alright, so off you two go…Naruto and Mollie to the Holiday Hoops set up…" Mollie smiled and batted her eyes at Naruto, who just grinned sheepishly back. "Neji and Courtney to the See Your Future stand…" Courtney made her (stupid) love eyes at Neji again, who just averted his eyes from her, not wanting to get sucked in. "And Shikamaru and Whitney to the dance floor and music part. At the end, we'll all work together on the Winter Walk through!" He concluded this as he walked away with more bounce in his step now that he had little minions to help him.

Leaving the guys behind with the nieces. The nieces just smiled at the guys they were paired with, a silence drawing out.

"Let's like, go!" chirped Mollie, breaking the silence as she practically pounced on Naruto.

"Oh uh…Right!" Naruto said, as he followed her step away from the group to the back corner of the room.

"Come on, Sasuke was it?" Clarissa asked Sasuke sweetly, tilting her head obliviously. Sasuke nodded without a word. "I got your name right! Go me!" she clapped her hands a little before running off toward the Cake Walk setup. "Come on!"

Sasuke sighed and followed. _Don't look at her ass, don't look at her ass…_

"So Neji…let's go to the Future thing shall we?" Courtney said this in a surprisingly smooth voice, one that almost held a candle to Neji's except for the fact that it was feminine. Neji was taken off guard and yanked his head up.

"Uh, sure," he said, keeping his cool and he followed Courtney to the future thingamajig.

That left Shikamaru and Whitney, on the dance floor. Whitney looked where they were, then back up at Shikamaru, pretending to have no clue.

"Oh my God! Who knew? We're, like, on the dance floor together!" Whitney chirped this in a very valley-girlish voice. Shikamaru sweat down his temples. _Well that's just great._

Shikamaru could see Whitney leaning in on him, inching closer, and he knew right away what she was trying to do. One thing ran through his mind.

_Ino._

Before Whitney could pull it off, he backed away smoothly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um…let's start with the music?" he offered, hitching a thumb towards the box by the speakers.

"Sure…" answered Whitney, obviously let down by his resistance.

Shikamaru walked towards the box before her. He wiped the sweat away that had formed at his temples.

I didn't give in to it…but why do I feel like such a traitor? With Naruto and Mollie… 

"Wow Naruto, you're a natural at this!" Mollie said in a high-pitched voice as her hands gripped Naruto's upper arm. They had just set up the net and the rollback pad, and were testing it out.

Naruto felt proud for a second, as he caught the basketball that rolled back to him after making a swish.

"I try," he said, pretending to be macho (AN: Hate it when guys are like that…particularly when it's with another girl…)

"Quite obviously…" Mollie's fingers crept slowly up Naruto's arm to his shoulder, giving him chills.

"Y-y-yipes!" Naruto said, as her fingers were cold and he was ticklish on that part of himself.

Mollie quickly pulled away, obvious frustration in her looks that she was trying to hide. "What is it?"

"It's n-nothing it's just…" Naruto bit his tongue. Why was he still stuttering? Her hands weren't there anymore.

Then he knew what it was. It was Hinata. He was so accustomed to hearing her everyday stutter, though she had grown out of it since they met again, it felt like he had to…pretend it was there just to feel like Hinata was. Naruto's smile dropped.

"What is it, really?" Mollie repeated, picking the front of her foot into the ground.

"Nothing, honest!" Naruto said, brightening up. Mollie smiled back.

"Good," she said, now putting her elbow on his shoulder instead, as if it belonged to her. Naruto let her do it, but couldn't help his guilt as he did.

With Sasuke and Clarissa… 

"So, do you like cake?" Clarissa asked Sasuke, twirling a sparkling piece of ribbon around him flirtatiously. It annoyed Sasuke, but he didn't stop her.

"Eh…It's ok I guess," he sighed back, trying hard not to look at her, knowing his gaze would only prolong itself if he did. Clarissa stopped twirling around and fell into the chair next to him.

"I don't like it either," she said, scrunching up her nose. "So many calories!" she threw her shiny purple hair behind her shoulders. Sasuke watched it flow.

It somehow reminded him of a certain 'other's hair. Both the unique color of it, and the way it moved.

"Why, do you think you're fat or something?" Sasuke asked, pretending to be casual as he tried to forget what he was really thinking about. Clarissa smiled, happy she had successfully led Sasuke into the conversation she was aiming at.

"Well," she began. "My thighs are simply dreadful, and my stomach could be flatter, and-"

"Then exercise or something," Sasuke resolved simply, shrugging before he stood up and walked to a table to get a glue gun.

Clarissa's mouth was open wide in shock. Never before has guy reacted to her little scheme the way Sasuke had. Usual, her responses included praise such as "Are you kidding? Your stomach and thighs are perfect!", "But you're so thin!", and "You so don't need to worry about that, honey."

But Sasuke…Sasuke had been sharp with her. He'd dismissed her trap completely. He was devious.

And that was the way she liked her men.

She smiled evilly as she stood up from her chair and walked over to him seductively. His back was still facing her as he glued a strip of paper to another.

She started massaging his shoulders from behind.

"So…got a girlfriend?" She asked. Sasuke didn't turn to face her, but he stopped gluing as he thought.

Sakura… 

This crossed him mind, but didn't say it. He _wished _Sakura were his. But she wasn't. She wasn't open to the option anymore.

Which is why he felt slightly less remorseful about answering the way he did.

"No," he said. "Why?"

"Just…wondering." Clarissa smiled at him as she released her hands from his shoulders in a job well done. Sasuke couldn't help but ask himself why he was wishing for her hands back.

With Neji and Courtney… 

"I've aced astronomy every year since seventh grade," Courtney boasted to Neji, as she set out some templates.

"Have you really now," he asked, laying out Tarot cards.

"Mmhmm. I can read just about anyone's horoscope," she answered. She walked around the table, closer to Neji. "What's your sign?" she asked alluringly.

"Huh?" Neji asked, more aware of the situation.

"Your zodiac sign," Courtney cleared up.

"Oh," he said. "…Gemini." He said this as if he didn't care, though he was actually interested in what Courtney was getting at.

"Right, well," Courtney said, as she took out some constellation templates and studied them around, moving the wheel. "According to this, your holiday horoscope says that you will accomplish something significant, and find love by time the holidays begin." She looked at him with this meaningful look as she said the last thing. Neji looked the other way. _Find love?_

Unlike what Courtney had in mind, Neji's mind wasn't on the girl in front of him. It was Tenten. Tenten, the only girl he had ever really talked to and admitting things to, Tenten, the girl he had known for seven years…

…And here he was, completely opening up to a girl he had only just met an hour ago. So what was up with that?

Whatever the reason, it made Neji's eyes sting.

At the entrance… 

Kakashi was sitting on a chair by the door, checking off a list of things. That is, until a noise was heard that sounded much like a door being fallen onto and opened.

"SORRY WE'RE LATE!" said the voices all in one breath as they tumbled in. They all fell smack down on the floor.

"…I told you guys, it was a revolving door!"

"I forgot, all right?"

The girls didn't happen to notice the peculiar look they got from Kakashi as they laid there strewn on the floor.

"Agh! Sorry Kakashi!" Ino noticed this force, and leapt up to her feet in embarrassment. Her friends did the same. "We were just…what's this?" Her sentence grew muffled, as she happened to catch a glance at the guys working with the girls at each station. These girls they didn't recognize, who they were ashamed to admit, were a thousand times prettier than they were, even with all those morning preparations.

Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata all knew what was going on. They saw the boy's faces, which were half filled with bliss, and half filled with seriousness as they discussed things with each niece. However, each of them knew they were entirely more caught up with the first option. And it made them feel like crumbling there and then.

But they weren't about to give the situation that satisfaction.

"Bad morning?" Kakashi asked them, standing up as he broke the awkward moment of silence.

"YES." Each girl chorused this at the same time, looking at one another.

"But…who are they?" Sakura asked without hesitation, pointing at the nieces.

"Um," cleared Kakashi. "You girls were late, and I decided to get a leg up on things. I introduced the boys to my four soon-to-be-nieces, who very kindly volunteered to lend a hand with the project," he explained. The girls were wide-eyed and open mouthed. "Well, err," Kakashi noticed their lack of chitchat, and figured it must be some personal thing not to get into. "Go on ahead and got to whichever station to help out. I'm sure you and my soon-to-be-nieces will get along famously!"

Without another word, he pushed them forward, further into the cafeteria, gesturing them to disperse as they liked.

But the girls didn't. They just stood, looking at the guy's interaction with the girls. They had no seen the guys act that close to girls since…

Well, since they were with them.

They felt blatantly down, but put it behind them. After all, it wasn't as if they were coupled or anything to begin with…nothing was ever official…no matter how much they wished it were.

"So…we should go, well, help out," said Tenten, sighing as she walked to the table Courtney and Neji were at.

"Yeah," the other girls said at once, as they each walked to the station their interests were manning.

They tried to ignore the pain they were feeling in their stomachs. It could have been because of the fact that they had barely eaten that day. Or it could have possibly been their hearts breaking.

Right then, they thought the latter.

**I know it sucks right now, but it'll get better, I promise! I hope you're liking the competition; things will get more catty in the next chapter! R and R!**


	8. Who's Side Are They On?

**Everyone's so mad at me…I really regret writing that last chapter now. I'm sorry guys. I'll try to make this one a lot better, since I don't want the guys under those sluts' spells for chapters on end, and I know you don't either, so I really hope this gets better for you guys. Sorry again. I'd really like to thank AsianAnimeGoddess, HinataInuzuka, Pale Moonlit Sky and Doodlebop for not being as angry at me about the whole thing. Thanks for the support guys!**

Chapter 8:

Who's Side are they on?

Sakura walked to the cakewalk part where Sasuke and Clarissa were. They didn't see her approaching since their backs were turned towards her as they taped squares to the floor. She noticed that Sasuke was sitting a bit close to her. Or rather, she was scooting ever closer to _him._

This didn't go well past Sakura.

"Um…?" She asked from behind them once she was only a few feet away. The two were obviously startled, and jumped a bit on their heels.

Well, actually, that's what Sasuke did. Clarissa on the other hand, purposely jumped into Sasuke's lap in her "shock".

"My, Sasuke!" She said, pretending to be appalled. "I had no idea you were so heroic!" She said this as if Sasuke had caught her on his will.

"Meh," he said, dropping her. (AN: Haha I had to add that, sorry.) He stood up quickly, as he took a step back from Clarissa, as if meaning to say 'I swear I did nothing with her.'

However, Clarissa, being one to scheme, had made a convincing performance enough to get into Sakura's head. S

Sasuke could see the disbelief in Sakura's eyes, as hard as she tried to hide it. They had developed this thing where they could almost speak to one another through their gazes.

"So," she said in a softer voice than usually, as she pulled her eyes from Sasuke's. "Who's this?" She looked at Clarissa, who had obviously been ticked at Sakura and Sasuke's little eye moment.

"Oh, well I'm Clarissa," she said in a superior voice, as she walked toward Her, standing next to Sasuke.

"…Nice to meet you," Sakura said, as much as she hated to at that moment, using her manners. She held out a hand to Clarissa who just looked down at it as if had grown tentacles.

"Who are you?" Clarissa blurted, turning down Sakura's hand.

Sakura put her arm down, her face showing obvious traces of annoyance with Clarissa's rudeness.

"Sakura Haruno," Sakura answered plainly. It was then that she decided to play with her. "I've known Sasuke for years, practically since I was a toddler." _There, _Sakura thought. _That ought to give her a taste of her own medicine._

"Have you now?" Clarissa asked irritably, not to Sakura but to Sasuke.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much," Sasuke answered. Sakura's face fell a bit at his half-hearted reply.

"Hm, how…sweet," Clarissa smiled, pretending to have a heart. "Well, let's not waste anymore time shall we? Let's back to working."

Without another word, Clarissa bent down to her taping again, not wanting the other two to carry on the discussion. However, as she bent down, she made sure Sasuke got a pretty good shot of her rear.

Sasuke looked away, and Sakura scowled. Sasuke then looked at her. _Well at least he chooses me over her ass. _

"So…" he began. "Let's get started?" he tossed her a roll of tape and nodded at the paper on the floor that need taping. Sakura looked reluctantly at the tape in her hand, then back up at Sasuke.

"Sure. No problem," she said softly as she bent down to tape.

"Hey," Sasuke said, making her head turn back toward him.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "You seem a bit…I dunno…"

"Off?" Sakura offered. Sasuke looked down sternly at her. Having been her teammate for a while, he eventually developed the protectiveness for her. Sakura only hoped he would someday see it as more than just in a brotherly way.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded.

"Well, it's just that-"

"Hello? Taping to do! I can't do this all myself!" Clarissa promptly interrupted Sakura sentence as she pulled Sasuke's arm to bring him down next to her. Sasuke looked back at Sakura questioningly before he bent to his knees.

Sakura just shook her head and waved it off. "…Never mind," she said.

Sasuke looked bewildered, but decided not to press the subject further. (AN: Guys…never know when to keep going when they hear the words "never mind," or "It's nothing.")

Sakura tended to her taping, and she thought as well. For the longest time, she had been the only girl really involved in Sasuke's life, and she even thought for the last few days…dare she say…that her feelings for him might have been mutual.

But now she had her doubts. He seemed to not have a problem getting close to Clarissa, He didn't show signs of feelings for her, but when it's Sasuke…willingness to get within a mile radius is enough.

"So, a cake walk, huh?" Sakura asked the two, breaking the silence. "You think you guys are going to go through it? You know, just to help hype up the kids."

At this, Clarissa immediately wrinkled her nose.

"Well, when it was just _me and Sasuke, _I told him that I don't do cake. Way too many calories." She looked Sakura up and down. "But you surely don't worry about that do you?"

Sakura was pissed, but she kept taping.

"Well then it's just great that you're working on the cakewalk then," she retorted sarcastically.

Clarissa looked up at her evilly. Sakura returned to glare. Sasuke was oblivious.

It was war.

_At the basketball stand…_

Hinata walked up to the basketball stand, unsure of whom this small black-haired girl was. _And why is her hand on Naruto's shoulder???_

"N-naruto?" Hinata tapped Naruto's shoulder lightly. Naruto turned around, then brightened up when he saw Hinata.

"Hinata!" he said, walked to Hinata, making Mollie's hand drop from his shoulder. "Where've you been?"

"Erm, me and the girls sort of had a rough start to the day," she answered on her toes, trying to close her thighs together as well as she could. _I really hope that fibreeze spritz worked._

"Hey Naruto, if you don't mind, we have to finish up the…" her eyes dropped on Hinata at last. "Who's this?" Her looks weren't exactly what one would call cordial.

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata introduced herself. Mollie squinted her eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you use your vocal chords this time?" Mollie cupped one of her ears in regard to Hinata's soft-spoken voice.

"Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata repeated, now louder, with more confidence. _What a rude person!_

"Ah," Mollie said, nodding her head. Then her eyes narrowed again, and her face contorted, as if it were disgusted. "Ugh!" she said, covering up her nose with her hands.

"What, Mollie?" Naruto asked her curiously. Hinata could feel her heart racing. _Please please please don't tell me…_

"What _is _that God awful smell?" She turned away and fanned the air around her nose. Naruto sniffed the air.

"Doesn't smell bad to me," he said peculiarly.

"Are you sure?" Mollie pressed on, glaring at the red Hinata. "Because it smells a lot like _pee _to me."

Hinata was not red anymore. No, her blood had now run dry, leaving her pale. _I guess the fibreeze didn't pay off after all._

Hinata and Mollie just looked at one another, their eyes throwing daggers. Or rather, Mollie's eyes were throwing daggers at Hinata, while Hinata's were trying to shield them.

Naruto just sniffed the air again.

"Maybe a little, but I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out," he said to Mollie with a raised eyebrow. "This auditorium is probably just really old or something." He shrugged and walked back to the basketball net to shoot more hoops.

At this time, Mollie walked up to Hinata, her arms crossed over her chest.

"So about this 'rough start'," She began, looking at Hinata suspiciously. "You didn't happen to, I dunno, have one glass to many of water last night?"

"N-not that I know of," Hinata replied, fearing where Mollie was about to take this.

"Hm." Mollie put her hand on her hip. "Weird. But if I didn't know any better…" she walked by Hinata's side and hissed into her ear. "That smell is _you._"

Hinata felt herself choke on her spit.

She didn't know much else except for the fact that she hated this girl.

_At the future thingamajig…_

Tenten arrived at the future setup to see Neji sitting across the table from some brunette girl she had never seen before. By the looks of it, they had finished with their feature, and were killing time. But…what exactly were they doing?

"Erm…Neji?" Tenten asked, coming up beside him. Neji, who had his arms crossed, looked up at Tenten with surprise.

"Oh, hello Tenten," he said, trying to restrain his eyes from her new hairstyle. He didn't know her hair was that long. "Courtney and I were just-"

"Seeing into our near futures," Courtney interrupted smoothly, making her stupid little eyes at Neji again. Tenten twitched. If there was anyone who was allowed to make eyes at Neji, it was her and her only. Not…whoever this incredibly fake girl was.

"Um…oh?" Tenten said, pulling a chair up as she sat down.

"Yeah, um," Courtney looked at her as if she were thinking 'why on earth are you here and why did you pull a chair up next to Neji?' "And, who are you?"

"Tenten," Tenten said.

"Courtney," Courtney replied, as if not caring who Tenten was at all, only boasting herself. "Nice name by the way," she added with a sneer. Tenten returned it without hesitation.

"Why Thank you," Tenten said back, though she knew she was being sarcastic. "You've got a booger in your nose by the way."

Courtney turned red as her hands flew to her face. She turned around as she pulled out a tissue and blew. Neji's eye twitched. The noise disturbed him.

"Hmph." Courtney sniffed and turned back around and set her arms on the table, her eyes closed, her nose turned up.

"So what were you guys doing?" Tenten asked Neji. Neji shrugged.

"Well, Courtney appears to be fascinated in astronomy and the works, and was just reading off some Tarot cards." Tenten simply nodded as he spoke, pretending to know what he was talking about. Then he said something she did understand. "Would you care to join us?"

Tenten could tell Courtney was consenting negatively to this offer. So of course Tenten said, "Sure!".

Neji turned to Courtney.

"Well?" he asked her. "Shouldn't you be manipulating your cards right about now?"

Courtney scowled at Tenten. "Yes, perhaps I should," she said as she slowly shuffled the deck, her eyes not leaving Tenten. "Your sign please?"

"Pisces," Tenten answered. She was still worried though. Neji had looked awfully cozy with Courtney before she came. She wondered…

"Alright," sighed Courtney, flipping a card over. "According to this…you will experience something life changing, have a good holiday…" It was obviously paining Courtney to have to read off Tenten's many good fortunes. "And it says your destiny pair is with…." A dark look loomed over Courtney's face as she glared at Tenten. "A Gemini."

Tenten's heart perked, knowing all too well that Neji was a Gemini.

"Well," Courtney broke in, breaking up Tenten's enthusiasm. "These things are hardly every right, so mis-readings are highly probable." She gathered up her cards indignantly and set them aside, not meeting Tenten's eyes. Tenten looked back evilly.

Neji hadn't failed to notice the link either. He looked away, embarrassingly. Pisces and Gemini.

"Well, now that that's over with," he said, not having missed the tension between the girls. "Let's go to Kakashi and see what to do next."

The two girls cut their electric glowers at each other and looked up at Neji.

"I couldn't agree more!" Courtney said this, suddenly all sweet. Tenten stood up too, but Courtney easily brushed past her to fall into step with Neji. Tenten walked behind, her eyes boring holes into the back of Courtney's head.

_What are you doing, Neji? _Tenten thought to herself, almost feeling like shedding a tear for the first time in her life. _She's not what you think._

At the dance floor… 

Ino stood at the dance floor as she saw Shikamaru and another flaxen haired girl.

"Oooh I _love _this album!!!" She heard the girl squeal, as she waved a CD cover in front of Shikamaru's face. Ino got closer to look at it.

"_The Duchess?_" Ino asked questioningly over their shoulders. Shikamaru turned his head around. (AN: In this fic, the music and artists are like what we have, let's just imagine.)

"Ino!" he said, spinning the rest of his body around to face her, obviously to the blonde's annoyance. "Where were you girls?"

"We slept in through our alarms," Ino lied. "Far." _Yeah right, _she thought. _Like we use our alarm clocks during winter break._

"Ooh, yikes," Shikamaru said.

"Apparently, 'far' is a bit of an understatement," Whitney scoffed. "From what I heard, you girls were supposed to be here at four."

Ino looked at the girl next to Shikamaru, not having noticed her before. Who was she? And more importantly, who was she to snap at her like that?

"Yeah, well things happen," Ino said, trying to keep her cool. She had always had a problem with that as a genin, and she was trying to work on it. Especially now that Shikamaru was back.

"No problem. Have a seat. We were just, you know, picking out the music for the dance." Shikamaru patted the spot next to him. Ino sat down there, much to Whitney's chagrin.

"So," Whitney said to Ino. "You are?"

The straight-forwardness tweaked something in Shikamaru's nerves as well as Ino's. Ino picked up some CDs and turned to look at Whitney.

"I'm Ino," she said to her. "Ino Yamanaka." She turned back to the CDs she had in hand. "You?" Ino tried to act casual.

"Whitney," she said, looking upon Ino with obvious disgust she was trying to hide. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders, letting it flow. To add to Ino's agitation, Whitney intentionally made some of her hair swish against Shikamaru's arm.

Ino stared with disbelief at Whitney, her golden hair almost rivaling her own.

"What?" Whitney asked sharply, catching Ino staring at her hair.

"Nothing. I like your hair," Ino said instead of what she wanted to say, which was 'plotting ways to chop it all off in the night.'

"You're not the first," Whitney said, as-a-matter-of-factly. Ino raised her eyebrows at this self-righteous remark. "And I like yours too, I guess. Tell me, is your shampoo meant to give the hair that real greasy look?"

Ino was speechless as to how to answer that. She wanted more than anything to spit out an insult at her back. But then, she chose instead to play Whitney's game.

"Why, yes it is," she answered, pretending to be flattered. "I'm so glad you noticed! You pretty much made my day."

This obviously wasn't the response Whitney was expecting to get. She just snorted and looked back at the CDs.

Shikamaru leaned over to Ino's ear. "I like your hair by the way," he whispered. "Very angelic."

Ino's heart floated away at the comment. She immediately forgot about Whitney.

"Shika-ma-ruuuuuuu," Whitney whined, tugging on Shikamaru's hand, meaning to break the moment between him and Ino. "I can't get the CD player to work."

Shikamaru looked peeved. "I showed you how before. Three times."

Whitney leaned on her hip. "Well, I forgot! Just help puh-leeease?"

"Fine…Troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed as he got up to help her. Ino looked perturbed. _Bleh…is that how I used to act? Wow, props to Shikamaru for putting up with that._

Ino thoughts were interrupted by the bursting of "Fergalicious" through the speakers.

_Fergalicious definition, make the boys go loco…they want my treasure so they get their pleasures from my photo…_

Ino covered her ears as Whitney began singing along….horribly, at that.

Shikamaru, feeling Ino's pain, turned the stereo down. Whitney stopped singing-thank God-and turned to Shikamaru, taken aback.

"That's like, my favorite song!" She said, putting her hands on her hips. Shikamaru sighed.

"Sorry. But Ino couldn't take the noise," he explained. Ino's eyes widened. _Great, thanks a lot Shika. _

Because now, Whitney's glare had turned to Ino, and it was heavy.

"Oh," Whitney said. "I didn't imagine she could."

Ino stood up abruptly and approached Whitney swiftly. She had just about had enough.

Ino was ready to give Whitney a piece of her mind when Shikamaru grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away.

Ino looked at him flabbergast.

"Don't fight," Shikamaru said to her, steadying her gaze at him. "Please."

Ino had no idea why he was so sided with that girl, that rude wannabee…_that slut. _

Ino felt her stomach acids curdle over.

"Fine…" she choked up. "I guess…We'll just do some more of this tomorrow."

"Fighting?" Shikamaru asked sternly.

"No," Ino defended. "Picking out music…"

"Oh," Shikamaru said. "Sorry." He turned to walk back to the stereo, taking out the Fergie CD.

"Too bad it's not alright," Ino said to herself.

**PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME! I know the nieces are horrible and should die, but PLEASE, don't flame me! The guys will see through their little façade. Just read and see. I swear guys, it'll get better.**


	9. The Bistro

**I'm so sorry the update took so long! I made a longer than usual chapter to make up for it! I really hope you like it! The story will thicken as the chapter progresses, be aware! Thanks guys.**

Chapter 9:

The Bistro

The girls were more pissed off than anything as they joined the rest of the teens at the benches to listen to Kakashi.

"Well, all I can say is great job today, guys!" Kakashi said enthusiastically. "You got a lot more done than I expected. I just knew my nieces would be fine additions."

The nieces, being who they were, did little cutesy smiles and shrugged their shoulders to their chins. (AN: Want…to…crush…sluts…so…badly…)

The girls could have knocked their heads clean off those shoulders right then as they each thought satanic thoughts toward the niece stealing their guy.

"So, that's all for today," Kakashi continued. "Since this is going so well, I think it'll only take tomorrow to finish up this room…which will just be the music I think?" he looked at Shika, who nodded. "Right. Well, you'll all work on our music issue tomorrow, then the next day we'll all work on the Holiday Hallway."

"…Holiday Hallway?" Tenten asked strangely. Kakashi wrinkled his brow in embarrassment.

"…It was all I could think of, ok?"

The nieces contributed as always.

"Well I love it uncle Kakashi," sang Clarissa adoringly. Obvious suck-up tactics.

"Ooh, me too!" Mollie added. "Both words even start with the same letter!"

At this, they all stared blankly at Mollie, except the other nieces who looked at their sister in surprise, as if the realization had just dawned on them.

The girls store dumbly at them. _What…airheads…_

The guys just shook their heads. Not even Naruto could have been expected to point out something like that.

"…Um, right!" said Kakashi, moving on to save his nieces the embarrassment. "Well, after that, we should be just about done. So, hm! I guess we'll get this project done faster than I thought! Thanks a lot, guys!" Kakashi turned to leave, until Naruto stopped him.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Kakashi slowly turned back to the teens as Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"What ever happened to you saying you'd make this worth our while?" He asked this.

The guys and girls had just remembered that Naruto was right. One of the reasons they had agreed to this was because Kakashi proposed he would make it "worth their while"…and of course the fact that he threatened to turn them in for sneaking into the theater.

Kakashi bit his lip. _Gotta think on your toes here Kakashi…_"Oh! Silly me, of course!" Kakashi clonked his own head. "I do in fact have something for you guys for today's work…um, let me find it, just a minute…"

Kakashi started digging through his pockets. _Ok, I know I have something in here…AHA!_

Kakashi pulled out a whole stack of slips.

"These!" Kakashi said grandly, holding them up as if they were a holy beacon.

Everyone looked at him confused.

"Um…what exactly are they?" Sakura asked. Kakashi went red, but it luckily didn't show because of his mask.

"Well, they are quite obviously…" He looked down to read what was on the slips. "Fifty dollar discounts to The Bistro in town!"

Unexpectedly, this piqued the teen's interests, and they all widened their eyes in astonishment. Even Neji and Sasuke.

"But The Bistro's the most expensive restaurant in town!" sputtered Ino, still in shock at Kakashi's payment.

"I know," said Kakashi. "Which is why you guys err, deserve them!" He handed them each one. When each girl and guy had one, Kakashi looked in his hands.

"Oh! Looks like I've got four extras!" Kakashi looked at his nieces, and the girls immediately knew what his next move was going to be.

_WHY??? _They all thought simultaneously. _WHAT ARE THE FLIPPIN CHANCES???_

"Might as well not let em go to waste!" Kakashi shrugged, much to the girl's anger. "Here you go girls!" He gave one to each of his beaming nieces. "After all, you did a lot of work too!"

The girls (AN: The good girls will be known as "the girls" while the nieces will simply be known as "the nieces".) would have spat had it not have been really sudden and weird.

"Thank you Uncle Kakashi!" Each niece started hugging Kakashi like crazy. Kakashi just laughed.

"No problem girls! Now go have fun…I'm sure you guys will become a great…err…twelve some!" He said this, indicating the whole group. The girls bit their lips. They certainly hoped that wouldn't be the case…they had no idea what the boys were thinking of those last sentences. They just hoped they weren't on Kakashi's side here.

"Well…" began Naruto moving towards the exit. "Should we all meet there at about seven?" They all looked at each other, thinking on the time.

"Meh, probably not," said Shikamaru. "A restaurant like that has to be jam packed at that time."

"Then when do you suppose we go?" Ino asked him, trying not to too sharp after their little awkward moment from before.

"Well, what time is it?" Tenten asked to no one in particular.

"Time to get a watch!" Clarissa joked, as if it were the wittiest thing ever invented. Of course she and her sisters laughed for minutes on end. The girls just waited until they were done. Hinata then cleared her throat, and referred to her watch, her being the only one who had one.

"It's about five thirty right now," she said.

"We should go now, then," said Sasuke, looking at everyone for approval.

"Now?" Sakura sputtered. "I mean…isn't it a bit early?"

"Not if you want to beat the rush," he replied with a shrug. Realizing he was right, the girls nodded, and with that they all headed to the door.

"BUT WAIT!"

But of course, no moment can ever be perfect in the midst of certain people…

"We can't even go home to get ready or like, anything?" Whitney cried incredulously.

"Um," Shikamaru began, rubbing the back of his head. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Courtney asked. "We can't possibly go out to dinner in these ratty things!" She gestured down to her Marc Jacob's inspired getup.

"Why, you poor thing!" gasped Tenten in mock horror. "You could pass for a peasant in those untailored polos!" Courtney struck back with an evil glare in Tenten's direction. Tenten was rather amused.

"It's honestly not that big a deal, Courtney," Neji reasoned, with a tweaked eyebrow. "No one really cares anyway how we all look." He shifted uncomfortably. Having lived with girls, he had a feeling about how the girls were going to react to him saying that.

All the nieces took a breath intake as if Neji had just offended the Gods. Neji braced himself, as did the girls. The other three guys didn't expect what came next.

"WHAT????" The girls screamed so loud, they could have created a wall of wind capable of blowing holes in the Hokage mountain.

"You heard him," sighed Tenten, choosing to take the situation in her hands before anyone got hurt. "It doesn't really matter anyway."

Courtney slowly turned her head towards Tenten and approached her. "You know what-"

"Hey! Whew! Would you look at the time? We better get moving before the rush kicks in," Naruto broke up the fight quickly, as each guy took a girl by the wrist and dragged them out of the auditorium before any further conflict could erupt between Tenten and Courtney.

However, it didn't stop them from exchanging glares of doom.

Not just Tenten and Courtney…all of them.

You could just tell the feud was only beginning.

* * *

The first cab (AN: There will be cabs in this story) that carried the boys pulled up to The Bistro. The snow was increasing rapidly, so getting there on foot would be suicide. When the boys stepped out they presumed their conversation from the cab.

"Um…they're not gonna kill each other, are they?" Naruto asked sheepishly, gritting his teeth nervously. Shikamaru looked amused at Naruto's concern of such a subject.

"Nah," Shikamaru shook his head, as he along with the other boys was completely oblivious as to what the girls were actually feuding about in the first place. "This is a fancy place, and they're girls. Girls wouldn't dream of making a huge scene in a fancy restaurant-"

Shikamaru's words were cut off upon the next cab, carrying the nieces, pulling up. They were chattering even more than the other girls did on a talkative day, which nearly freaked the boys out. When the girls locked on to the guys, they immediately stopped yapping and started flirting.

"My, my, my, Shikamaru!" Whitney said, running her finger along Shikamaru's collar. "You were certainly right about beating the rush…there's hardly a soul here! Except…for us that is…" Whitney giggled a sickeningly girly giggle as she fooled with one of Shikamaru's pulled-back locks. It took all of Shikamaru's gentlemanly strength not to slap her hand away.

"Eh…actually, there's tons of people here."

The nieces faces contorted depressingly upon hearing Ino's voice, as they turned to see the girls stepping out of their cab. One could easily see the niece's faces fall.

"Evening…girls." Mollie said this with a sneer, blatant sarcasm in her voice.

"Right back at ya," Tenten said casually, pointing at them, pretending not to care what they thought of them.

"It's rude to point!" Clarissa squealed at Tenten obnoxiously. "Didn't your mama ever tell you that?"

Tenten's face fell immediately. The girls instantly felt sad for Tenten, knowing all too well her mom had passed.

Tenten opened her mouth, but could say no words. She let her head fall back down as her friends fought for her with sharp stares in the nieces direction. Their anger was beyond what words could cover. Regardless of the heavy snow and cold, they weren't bothered by that nearly as much as this.

"Errm…I believe we should probably be going in now," Neji said uncomfortably as he and the boys inched into the fancy double doors of The Bistro. They were really getting shifty when it came to these girls battles. They had no idea how to contribute, or how to end it. So they just chose to stay out of it.

All the girls could do was look at the boys in disbelief once they entered the holiday decorated Bistro. Why haven't they defended them at all since the nieces came into the picture? Why don't they say something? What was _wrong _with them?

"Ooh, did we strike a nerve in you, miss bunbun?" Courtney made a mock pouty face at Tenten.

"What, were you hoping we would have crashed on black ice on the way here instead?" Sakura spat back at Courtney for Tenten.

"Um," Clarissa said knowingly. "No, doy! Everyone knows ice isn't black!"

Even Tenten had to look up to question this girl's stupidity. It was shocking the first time, but now it was just getting ridiculous.

"You aren't worth our time," Hinata said calmly, as she led Tenten and the rest of her friends into The Bistro. "Just leave us alone."

"Yeah, you just keep walking…bed wetter."

Hinata was thankful she was facing away, or else the nieces would have seen out pale and mortified her face was just then.

* * *

The waiter sat the party down at a large booth in the far corner of the restaurant, pointedly seating them away from all the dinners of two. In such a fancy place as The Bistro, they didn't want rowdy teens destroying their client's meals.

However, these people's intentions were far from ruining other people's meals. No, there's were more of ruining the person across from them's meals.

The seating on one side was Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, Sakura and Ino. The seating on the other side was Sasuke, Shikamaru, Mollie, Courtney, Clarissa and Whitney.

As far as they were now, which was simply looking at the menus, no mischief or mayhem had been caused between the two groups of girls.

"What'll you be getting?" Sakura asked Ino, looking over at her menu.

"Hmm, I think I'll get the chicken wrap," Ino answered undecidedly, drumming her fingers on her cheek as she rest her chin on her hand. "I heard it's good here. You?"

"Probably the pasta," Sakura answered. "I'm a sucker for noodles, so you just know I'm going to have to experience them from a place like this." Sakura's mouth watered at the vision.

"Well I'm getting the fillet," Tenten contributed, leaning over to tell them. "Just classic," she explained.

"Pulled pork," Hinata added softly. "My dad always made that for me when I was younger. It will bring back some memories."

The girls all nodded at each other's choices, when they noticed pairs of eyes watching them. They turned to look at the nieces looking back at them, shaking their heads as if they were disappointments.

"What?" Ino asked them, narrowing he eyes.

"Oh nothing," said Whitney. She turned to Clarissa. "It's just that I _told _you they would get stuff like that…" She made a disgusted face.

"It's call normal food," Sakura replied. "You should try some. It would do you some good."

"Yeah, right, we'll eat the acid _you _people eat, and why don't we just jump off a cliff while we're at it?" Mollie scoffed. Her sisters rolled their eyes.

"Well what are you getting then?" Tenten asked them. The nieces were ready to respond when the waiter came to take their orders (AN: They already had their drinks lets say)/

After taking the boy's orders, which mostly included ribs and the like, he moved on to the girls. The girls gave their orders without hesitation in order to purposely show the nieces they didn't care. However, the nieces struck back.

"Well…" Mollie said, looking at the menu again. "I guess I'll have the house salad, _without _veggies, _without _cheese and _without _dressing. Yes, that will be all." Mollie smiled defiantly as she folded up her menu and handed it to the waiter.

"Errm…that'll leave only the lettuce, ma'am, you do know that?" The waiter asked hesitantly as he took the menu from her.

"I'm fully aware," Mollie said as she eyed the girls. The girl's eyes widened angrily, and the guys just looked at the freaky herbivores in confusion.

"Right…" The waiter said unsurely as he scribbled down on his pad what probably just read 'bowl of lettuce'. He turned to the other nieces. "And you ladies?"

"Same," they all shrugged in unison.

The girl's jaws nearly fell to the floor as the bewildered waiter left the table. It was then that Ino leaned over to them.

"If you're trying to make a point, just go on and say it," she hissed at them. They pretended to be taken aback.

"Now what makes you think that, Ino?" Whitney asked, her hand over her mouth.

Ino just shook her head and sighed as she sat back in her part of the bench. She just knew they were up to something.

"Hey," Naruto then asked Mollie, much to Hinata's hidden anger. "Why are you girls only getting lettuce anyways?"

"Well, how do you think we sustain bodies like these?" Mollie answered, tossing her hair. "We're modeling for the Konoha Fashion's Holiday catalogue, and to be a model for them you have to be very, what's the word girls?" Mollie turned to her sisters, intentionally creeping up the girl's nerves.

"Lithe," Courtney said lowly. "Very lithe."

The girls just about had enough. Sakura put her napkin down and stood up.

"I…we need to got to the bathroom," she said, signaling the rest of her friends to come with. They got up as well. "Excuse us," Sakura told Neji and Naruto. They two boys slid out of the booth to let the girls out.

"Hey, I kind of have to go too anyway," said Neji, looking sternly toward his friends as the girls left toward the bathrooms. "…Anyone else?" He asked, knowing what the answers would be.

"Yes," the rest of the boys said in unison as they all bolted out of the booths and into the boy's bathroom.

This left the nieces on their own. And God only knows what they will do when they're left alone.

* * *

In the boys bathroom… 

"Alright," said Sasuke, slamming the door open as the boys walked in. It was a large fancy bathroom and it had a few couches even, sort of like that of which they have at malls. "We've got to find out what in the hell is going on. Those girl's have been at each other's throats all night long."

"I've noticed," said Shikamaru, leaning against the sink, which instead of paper towels, was topped with little towellettes for customers to dry their hands with. "I wonder…" He thought aloud, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"…You wonder what?" Naruto asked, sitting up in the chair he was in, becoming interested in whatever was gnawing at the tip of Shikamaru's tongue.

"Naw, I doubt it…"

"Just spill it, Nara," Neji sighed. Shikamaru turned towards them and put his hands in his pockets.

"Well…you think it has anything to do with us, possibly?"

The boys fell silence at this idea. They were partly uncomfortable, and partly hoping it was true.

"You're right," Sasuke said quietly. "I doubt it too."

"But just think," Shikamaru pressed on. "I mean, those nieces have been flirting with us from the second we met. Then the other girls come along, and they instantly become enemies. Is this making sense to you?"

"No," said Naruto.

"Yes," said Neji.

"I'll explain," Shikamaru said, in regards to Naruto. "Well, maybe the girls are snappy at the nieces…I dunno, maybe because they might probably have a thing for us maybe?"

The boys mulled the thought over.

"Well, setting aside all your 'maybe's, 'probably's, and 'might's," Sasuke began. "I think you have a point."

"See?" Shikamaru said.

"But," Sasuke continued. "Who are we to say it's not because of something different? Maybe they have some past with one another we don't know about, I dunno, it's just…" he ran his hand through his hair in frustratingly. "…I think we missed our chances with them. As painful as it may be to accept…they just don't see us as more than family."

All the guy's hopes immediately crashed upon hearing this. They realized Sasuke had a strikingly good point. They had more of chance with them in their genin days, back when girls were falling at their feet (AN: even though they still are). And now, it was probably too late.

"Maybe," Naruto said standing up, not willing to be defeated so easily. "But who's to say we can't…try to find out?"

The boys shifted, interested to hear what Naruto had to say for once.

"What are you saying?" Neji asked.

"What I'm saying is that maybe we can hint off to them a bit during the Winter Wonderland, you know, how we feel for them. Girls aren't stupid you know. If they want us back, they'll accept our actions. If they don't, they'll deny them. What do you say?" Naruto grew increasingly more animated as he spoke enthusiastically.

However, something was missing. And that something was the positive reaction of his friends.

"Well?" Naruto urged. "What do you guys think??"

"Well," Shikamaru mused, looking at his feet. "It's just a lot of today, while we were working, Whitney was there and…you know, if Ino doesn't want me the same way, Whitney does, and so I was just sort of feeling…"

"Attracted to her?" Sasuke finished easily. Shikamaru nodded. "Same a bit with Clarissa. Even if she is annoying…she just reminds me a bit of…" Sakura came into his mind, but he didn't say so. "Never mind."

The other guys nodded in agreement with the niece thing.

"Mollie is sorta cute too," said Naruto. "I think I have a thing for small girls." HE scratched his head.

"Courtney is good with supernatural things, so I guess that's pretty cool," Neji shrugged.

None of them would admit the truth…the truth which was that there attraction to the nieces only existed because they reminded them of the girls, and for that reason alone. They all knew it. But they couldn't bring themselves to say it.

Though their minds were thinking of the nieces at that moment, they didn't notice what their hearts were thinking. And their hearts were thinking of the girls.

* * *

In the girls room 

"URGH, I SWEAR, I'm ready to rip that Courtney's head right off those bony shoulders!" Tenten said this as she tore at a towelette. Just then, a woman came out of the bathroom and looked at her oddly.

"Um…" Tenten said as she and the girls froze. The woman just washed her hands quickly and bolted out the door.

"Anyways," Ino said. "We've got to put a stop to this. I mean, can't the guys even see what those girls are really like?" She hopped up on the sink and swung her legs.

"They are geniuses after all," Hinata added, sitting on a couch.

"You'd think the Byakugan could see through something like that!" Tenten spat. The girls nodded in agreement. A small interval followed as they mused in their thoughts.

"…Do you think they ever think about us in the way we think about them?" Sakura asked, hugging her left knee. "The boys, I mean!" she added quickly.

"I really don't know," sighed Ino. "If they do, they sure haven't been acting like it lately."

"That's for sure," said Hinata to the floor.

"Well," Sakura said. "I was just thinking, maybe we could try to hint off to them at the Winter Wonderland!" The girls perked up at hearing this and gathered round her for more (AN: Think the way everyone gathered around Sandy in "Grease" during first musical number.)

"Ooh, your idea me likey!" Tenten said maliciously as she rubbed her hands together. "How shall we do so?"

"I have an idea," said Ino. "We could do some shameless flirting you know, then I don't know…dance extremely close or something. Not sickly close, but closer than normal. If they get all grossed out or invent some excuse to get away, then we know they're not interested. Sound like a plan?"

"Hells yeah!" Sakura said, slapping Tenten and Ino and high five.

"But wait!" said Hinata. They all turned to her.

"What is it, Hinata?" Ino asked curiously.

"Well…what if they're too caught up with the nieces?" Hinata hated to bring this point up, but knew it had to be considered. They couldn't just…well, not consider it.

"Damn it," Ino bit her thumbnail. "Forgot about them for a split second."

"Well," offered Tenten. "They have only one strength more than us, which is that they are more put together than us, right?" Tenten asked them. They nodded slowly. "Well, what if we outclassed them in that department? We could unwrap the guys from their fingers that way."

The all considered her idea, and worshiped it right away. Ino shook her head and smiled.

"Tenten, I dunno what we'd to without you," she said.

"I know," Tenten replied sarcastically. All the girls laughed.

"So," Sakura said when the laughing died down. "Starting tomorrow, we're going to wake up on time this time, and act, well, 'put together'," she said.

"Right," the other girls nodded as they stood up, ready to leave.

"Let's get back now," Ino said. "The food's probably here by now."

With that, the girls left the bathroom.

* * *

Meantime with nieces… 

"Those little skanks are just about getting on my final nerves…" Courtney set her jaw.

"You're telling me," scoffed Whitney, rolling her eyes. "Who do they think they are? Just mouthing off at us like that?"

"I don't know, but one way or another, we've got to teach them a lesson…" Clarissa said lowly, looking out the window as evil plans flashed through her head.

"Oooh, what's on your mind?" Mollie asked her evilly, sitting on her knees.

"Your food, ladies, and…well, everyone who will be here shortly I suppose," the waiter said, putting the plates of food in front of each place. The girls smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you very much," Mollie said, beaming up at him. He smiled back and walked away. Mollie's smiled instantly diminished and she turned back to Clarissa.

"Well?" They all asked of her in unison.

Then, a malicious look on her face, Clarissa slipped a small vile out of her purse. The girls all gasped.

"Genius!" Mollie squealed.

"Hm…Laxative drops…" Courtney said darkly, looking from the vile to the girl's plates as an evil grin creeping up her face. "I never thought I'd say this to you Clarissa, but you've certainly outdone yourself."

**I'd just like to say, I do not encourage in any shape or form what the nieces are about to do to the girls! Putting laxatives in someone's food is lower than low in my book, along with many other things. Anyways, sorry for the late update, more Holidayish stuff will be coming, I swear, but this chapter was vital. R and R, thanks guys!**


	10. That's Not Just Oil Guys

**Hey guys! Sorry, this chapter's gonna be short, but bare with me here. I hope you like it! And don't worry; we all want the nieces to die a cruel and painful twisted death. Don't worry, they'll get what's coming to them later!**

Chapter 10:

That's Not Just Oil Guys

The girls arrived at their table first, followed by the boys.

"Oh good," Sakura said as the girls slid into their seats. "Food's finally here."

The girls heard some giddy mumbles coming from the nieces and looked up at them.

"What?" Courtney spat, daintily chewing a piece of lettuce. It made her look like a rabbit.

"Oh, nothing that concerns you, don't worry," Ino said, looking down at her plate as she started to cut her wrap with a fork and knife. She had an odd habit of eating finger food with a knife and fork.

The rest of the girls just shrugged and looked back down at their plates too.

Sakura was about to eat when she gazed down at her plate. Something was giving her an odd feeling…

"Huh," she said, looking up form her dish, an eyebrow tweaked. "…It looks like they put a lot more oil on this than they should have."

"So?" Blurted Clarissa. Sakura looked up at her funny. Clarissa sat back in her chair again, catching her mistake. "Not that I care or anything," she covered up, crossing her arms.

"So my stomach acts up with a lot of oil…" Sakura bit her lip.

"Just ask for a new dish then, less oil," Sasuke offered, taking a bite out of his rib slab. Sakura looked back down at the 'oil'.

"Maybe I should…" she said unsurely.

The nieces knew that this could foil their plot…well, for Sakura that is. This mainly unsettled Clarissa.

"Come on," Clarissa scoffed. "Do you really want to cause the waiter that much more trouble?" She drummed her fingers on the table and looked at Sakura with a disciplinary look, as if Sakura was stealing from a homeless shelter.

"I don't think they'd mind," said Ino, having not gotten into her dinner yet (luckily…)

"Me neith- wait a second," Tenten said, narrowing her eyes at Hinata's and her own food. "…These have got a lot of oily stuff too. Must be some weird restaurant policy or something."

Hinata's eyes widen. "Oil….in pulled pork?" she asked this in disgust. Tenten scrunched her face up too.

"You're right. That's gross," she agreed, pushing Hinata's and her own plates away. "Make that three new orders. Filets shouldn't have too much oil in the first place," she said. They all looked at Ino.

"What about yours?" Hinata asked her. Ino looked down at her wrap and studied it. The nieces were watching anxiously. They were cursing terribly in their heads that their plan had failed for more than half of them, but if they could pull off at least one, it would be enough…

"I don't see any oil in this," Ino said simply, popping a piece into her mouth.

Whitney cheered in her head. _…That should be kicking in in about five minutes, blondie. Boy am I glad I put those drops _inside _the wrap. _

"Oh, ok," shrugged Sakura. "Just three then. Hey, wait!" Sakura waved her hand above the booth to the waiter, who was crossing the room. He spotted her and walked over to the table.

"Ok," Sakura said. "These have a bit…too much oil for our stomachs to take. Could you possibly get us some new dishes with less oil? If it's not that much trouble that is." The girls waited for a reply from the paused waiter.

"Um," the waiter scratched his head. "Ladies, we don't put oil on top of our food. We put it in our dressings, dips and sauces, but not as topping like I see here…"

The girls tilted their heads. "Oh…" Sakura looked at their plates in confusion. How did the oil get there if the chef didn't put it there? "Then…"

"Are you sure you didn't put any on after you got it? Because I don't remember all that oil being on the food when I served it here," the waiter asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Sakura looked at Hinata and Tenten. Then at the nieces who were looking particularly…satisfied.

_A bit too satisfied._

Sakura then gasped and her eyes widened.

"What is it miss?" The waiter asked worriedly at Sakura's random intake.

"Oh, um, nothing," she said. "Just…some bread would be great," she said, not sure if she could face a whole meal after what she was thinking about.

"Ok," the waiter said, scribbling it down. "Would that be all?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, looking at the nieces without blinking. "Thanks."

The waiter walked away. Tenten turned towards Sakura.

"What was that all about?" Tenten asked in regards to Sakura's shock from before.

"Our food," Sakura said. "When it got here, it was with the nieces for about what, three minutes?" Tenten nodded.

"Yeah…and…" Tenten moved her hands progressively.

"Do you have any idea what they could have _done _in that time?" Sakura asked this more fiercely, giving Tenten's sleeve a yank in emphasis.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked, yanking her sleeve away.

"I mean that they probably-"

"Oh my God…"

Sakura's words were cut off by Ino, who was clutching her stomach, a hand over her mouth as she hunched over. She was no more than an eighth way through her wrap.

"What is it, Ino," Sakura asked sternly, steadying Ino by the shoulders.

The nieces tried to contain their satisfaction. Everything was going as planned.

"I, I don't know, I just feel like…Oh god, I've gotta go-"

From then, Ino dropped below the table and crawled under and out, seeing as about five people would have had to move for her to get out by the seat. When she had crawled out, She ran to the bathroom as fast as she could.

Sakura, Tenten and Hinata looked at each other in alarm. The nieces just kept straight faces.

The boys, who had been tearing hungrily into their food the whole time, finally took a halt.

"Is she all right?" Shikamaru asked seriously, not taking his eyes off the bathroom door, as if expecting Ino to jump out and tell him he'd been punk'd.

"I really don't know," Tenten answered worriedly, standing up. "Here we need to get out-"

"I'm sure she's fine," Whitney interrupted, rolling her eyes as she swung her hand in whatever fashion. "The pig just probably ate too much. I mean look how she dug into that wrap!" She pointed disgustingly at Ino's wrap, which again, was no more than an eighth of the way done.

Tenten just looked at her flatly and coldly.

"We need to get out," she repeated to Neji and Naruto. They obeyed without question and slid out of the booth, giving the three girls a clear way out.

"We'll be back soon," Hinata assured them before the girls set off to the bathrooms.

"Hey," Shikamaru said to them. They turned around. "Make sure she's all right…ok?" He asked this, his complexion growing slightly red.

Sakura understood. "Right," she nodded. Shikamaru nodded a thank you back before the girls turned around and ran into the bathrooms.

* * *

When they flung the door open, the first thing they heard was a groan of pain, followed by what sounded like stuff being spilt into water. They already knew what that probably was. 

"Ino!" Hinata squealed. "Which stall are you in?"

"Here," they heard a hoarse voice reply from the third stall.

They all followed the sound and ran into the stall to see Ino on her knees, her head hung over the toilet bowl, spewing into it like no other.

* * *

Back at the table… 

The boys kept looking at the bathroom door, waiting for the girls to emerge. The nieces shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Um, hello?" Mollie waved her hand. "Still here?" The boys didn't show much interest.

"Sorry," Naruto closed his eyes. "We're just worried is all."

"What, about her?" Whitney asked incredulously, gesturing at the bathrooms.

"No, about tomorrow's weather," Neji said sarcastically, crossing his arms. The nieces rolled their eyes.

"Your bread?" the waiter came by with a breadbasket in hand and set it in the center of the table. "Where are the young ladies this time?" he sighed, looking at the empty spaces, annoyed at the fact that the girls who asked for the bread weren't there to receive it.

"They had….an accident," Courtney answered smoothly, setting her hands on her lap, forming a side smile.

This set something off in Neji's head. He looked at the overly happy nieces oddly.

"So," Neji crossed his arms. "None of this seems to be bothering you."

The nieces changed their expressions, dropping them to look saddened.

"Oh, don't get the wrong idea, it is!" Whitney defended. "Just, pageant queens are raised not to show intense expressions," she explained.

"So they aren't," Neji nodded, finding this hard to believe. He then turned to the waiter.

"Hey," he hissed, just so them to could hear.

"Yes?" the waiter sighed again. Obviously, it had been a long shift for him.

"Would you mind boxing this, and the other girls food?" He asked. The waiter raised an eyebrow.

"But they sent it back," he reminded Neji hesitantly.

"I know," Neji said, thinking on his feet for an excuse. "Just, please, box it. Hers too," he pointed to Ino's wrap. The waiter looked from Neji to the plate.

"Fine," he said, taking the plate away. Neji nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks," he said. He had a plan.

"Hm ."

* * *

In the bathroom… 

"Ino!" Sakura ran to her friend and held her hair back while she threw up into the toilet. "Are you alright?" she asked after Ino was done with the first spill.

"I've been better," Ino answered weakly, turning her head. Her eyes were worn out now, and her face looked bloodless.

"Oh my god, Ino," Tenten gasped, kneeling beside her. "What is it? Did you have a lot to drink or something?" Ino looked offended by this.

"Of course not!" she rasped, spitting into the toilet. "I haven't touched a drink in my life, you know that," she told Tenten. Tenten nodded.

"I know, just a thought," she apologized.

Sakura held Ino's hair back again as she leaned back into the toilet to puke. Not that there was a whole lot to puke, seeing as all Ino had that day was bit of wrap and some breakfast. She knew right away that no ordinary stomach problem could bring around something like that.

"Ino," Sakura asked her when she was finished again. "Are you sure you didn't see any oil on your wrap?" Ino thanked her and sat up, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Well, not on it," Ino answered. "But maybe in…" Ino's eyes widened and she swung her head around to Sakura, her mind just meeting the realization Sakura had earlier.

"What? What is it?" Hinata asked the two frantically. Tenten leaned in on them.

"Why are you guys so stern all of a sudden?"

Sakura stood up and helped up Ino, who wobbled to her feet.

"That oil…" Sakura began darkly, the niece's images flashing through her mind. "Wasn't oil."

**The girl's revenge is coming up soon. Sorry this chapter was so short, I didn't have a lot of time tonight, but I swear it'll get better this weekend. Thanks everyone! R and R!**


	11. Left Behind

**Hey guys! Sorry, this is a quick chapter, but that just means the update will come even sooner, so don't worry! I hope you like this chapter; it's in a way deep in terms of emotions. You decide…it's more of an acquired sense of emotion. Read on!**

Chapter 11:

Left Behind

"Here's the boxed food you asked for sir," the waiter set a tower of four boxes on Neji's outstretched arms.

"Thank you," Neji said from behind them. They went above his head, and it was obvious he was having trouble balancing them. The one on top's corner was just over the edge, tipping, threatening to fall over on his head. "A little help, guys?" he asked when the waiter left.

"Oh…right," Naruto said, taking off the top box, Shikamaru taking off the next.

"Why'd you box all their food anyway?" Shikamaru hissed while he brought down the box. "It's not like they're ever going to eat it."

Neji didn't falter. "Maybe that's because they're not going to be the ones taking them…we are." Neji was hoping Shikamaru, being a genius, would let on to what he was saying, but no such luck. Shikamaru looked at him oddly.

"Um, Neji? I don't exactly do oil myself, I don't know about you guys, but-" Shikamaru cut off when he felt Neji jab him in the side with his elbow. He gave him a knowing look, and Shikamaru knew to shut up.

"Wait!" Clarissa said. "What…what do you mean you guys are taking them?" She bit her nails.

"Why so nervous about it?" Neji asked skeptically. Clarissa dropped her hand. Courtney tried to stop the sweat that was forming at her temples.

"No reason," Mollie answered for them. "It's just that I heard that the food here only tastes good for one day, and it oftentimes develops…err…Salmonella after a certain period of-"

"I think we'll take our chances with that," said Neji back, as he thought within his head, _bullshit. _

"Well, don't blame us if you start throwing up because you get sick!" Whitney blurted this defensively, throwing her hands up. This struck something in the guy's ears.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, knowing very well what she said, but wanting to probe the true meaning.

Whitney turned red as an apple and put her hands down.

"Not like…well, erm, the Salmonella, you see, will make you-"

"I think we should be going now," sighed Sasuke, finally having enough. He stood up as he and the boys slid out of their booths.

"What about Ino?" Shikamaru asked, stalling before he followed his friends. The guys stopped and looked at him.

"Don't worry," assured Neji. "She'll be ok- they'll take care of her. Besides," he said as Shikamaru fell into step with them. "I think I know how to find what's wrong with her…what's really wrong with her." He whispered this to Shikamaru, who's eyes widened, then went normal.

"Right," he nodded.

"Wait!" the all-famous squeals sounded from behind them. Sweat dropping, they all turned to face the nieces who were standing up, hands on hips, toes tapping.

"Excuse me, but what about the _bill_?" Courtney pointed at the bill on the table. The guy's eyes all fell on it.

"What about it? We paid our own share," Naruto shrugged pretending to be clueless.

Mollie cleared her throat. "Hello, are you socially inept? You're supposed to pay for all of us!" She stamped her foot stubbornly. What a turn off.

"When did we say that?" Sasuke asked flatly, knowing very well Kakashi had given them discounts. But it looked like the girls had happened to…misplace them (AN: This will become significant later in the chapter)

"Well, you didn't, but…" Clarissa kept kicking her foot to the ground. "You were supposed to!"

The guys just looked them up and down. Were they really what they had thought they were when they first met them?

No.

Because right then, they would have given anything to have the girls right by their sides.

"Well, I wouldn't worry," said Naruto, turning to walk away. "I'm sure lettuce isn't all that expensive." Naruto smiled at his crafty comeback.

With that, the guys turned and walked out of The Bistro, toothpicks in their mouths as they walked off, catching lots of gawks from lonely waitresses.

The nieces just stood, flabbergast. Not once have guys ever turned them away like that. Not once.

And that wasn't about to change if they had anything to say about it.

They had a plan (AN: Something all three groups have in common!)

* * *

In the bathroom… 

"Well, what do you suggest it was then?" Hinata asked earnestly, cringing as Ino took another spew.

"Some…" Sakura reached to gather Ino's hair back again, as it was fall out of her hold. "Some kind of food poisoning I'm guessing."

"No kidding," said Tenten, also cringing upon seeing the severity in Ino's sickness.

"Who would do that?" Hinata asked quietly, looking at her feet, sad on Ino's behalf.

"Psht. Three guesses who," scoffed Tenten, looking like she was about to tear some heads off.

"Those…bitches…" Ino choked between spills as Sakura pat her back.

"I knew they were low before, but not that low," Sakura said darkly. She was all too angry at what those girls had done.

"Just think," Ino said, sitting up and wiping her mouth off with toilet paper. "It could have been all of us if Sakura hadn't noticed it." They all gasped at the realization. It wasn't just an attack on Ino…it was meant for all of them. But only Ino had to go through it…just for the stupid reason her food happened to have more hiding places. "I should have checked my wrap more," Ino said in a frick-I-feel-undeniably-stupid voice.

"Don't worry Ino," Hinata comforted. "What's passed has passed…Sakura's a medic, remember? She has all kinds of medicines we can use when we get home to make you feel better," she said.

"She's right," Sakura said. "I could get rid of food poisoning in a heartbeat, no worries!" She said this, intending brighten up Ino's mood. But Ino's face remained dropped.

"It could have been all of us," she said again. "I still can't believe it. All of us could have been in stalls right now. They tried to get all of us…" Ino's anger at the nieces began to overtake her as she stood up, wobbling. She clenched a fist tight. "I want to kill them…"

Ino head straight out of the stall and head for the door. Alarmed, her friends followed her. Ino was about to open the door when Tenten stopped her.

"That's the pain talking honey," Tenten said, sitting Ino down on a couch. "We all want to kill them, yes, but when we do get our revenge, we're going to plan it out discreetly. But don't worry, we will get our revenge," she said maliciously.

"I'm just glad it happened this way instead," Ino sighed, getting calmer after Tenten's pep talk. "I'd rather it be me than all of us, you know?"

"We understand," said Sakura, nodding. "Though I personally rather it would have not been any of us," she pointed out.

"…Well, yeah, that too," Ino chuckled. The girls wound down their anger and began to think rationally. When they got back to the table, they would have to fight back every urge to kill the nieces. It was nearly impossible for them to accomplish a calm state of mind.

"Let's go," said Hinata, tugging on Sakura's sleeve. Sakura nodded.

"We should…we've been in here long enough." They all head for the door. They opened it and head for the table "I wouldn't be surprised if they all had…"

Sakura cut mid-sentence when she saw the empty table. No boys, no nieces. "…Left already," she finished.

The girls were utterly shocked to see that every one had in fact left. The nieces, they understood, but the boys? They weren't the types to just leave them behind.

"Wait a second, what's this?" Tenten pointed at a white note on top of another on the table. She swiped it and read it. "_Dear Girls- seeing as you were a bit caught up, the boys and us decided to go catch a movie…you know, that new romance movie out? Yeah, well, we're just DYING to see it, so we're gone now! Buh bye! –Whitney, Courtney, Clarissa and Mollie. PS…We left the bill with you. Hope that's all right!"_

Tenten softly let the note drop from her hands as she let it float to the floor. The girls felt like dying. Ino felt almost as if everything were about to come up again…only this time, her heart along with.

"I…what? I could….I don't believe it…" Sakura squinted her eyes shut and she spoke softly.

"Me neither," Hinata agreed, her voice twice as soft as it already was by nature.

There were no words describing what they were feeling. Oh wait, yes there was.

_Betrayal._

"Wait a minute…" muttered Ino, lifting her chin.

"What?" Tenten asked.

"Didn't we just see that romance movie with the guys only yesterday?" She asked, looking around at her friends. They all brought their heads up slowly.

"…Yeah, we did," Sakura said. "And…they just so happen to want to see it again?" Sakura was normally the one to see the more logical answer, but this time, she was too caught up with grief.

"Who says they're telling the truth?" Tenten suggested half hopefully, half hopelessly.

"Maybe," shrugged Hinata. "…but maybe not," she added softly. The girl looked at the ground.

As much as they wanted to see Tenten's view, they couldn't. Not even Tenten. All they wanted to do was go to sleep, sleep and not wake up until the holidays were over. Their greatest excitement had turned into their greatest fear, all in one measly note from four bitches.

It just wasn't fair.

"Well…I guess we have no choice," Sakura said, picking up the bill with a sigh. She looked at it and groaned. "Great," she said. "Our own coupons aren't about to cover this alone. Show of hands, who thinks we're going to have to spend the rest of the night on kitchen duty?"

She showed them the bill and they reluctantly raised their hands.

"Well that's just one way to top off a brilliant night," Ino growled, sitting down on the booth to rest her head on her arms. She just wanted to leave, was that so much to ask? But no, the nieces couldn't let them have that satisfaction either.

Then, Ino shifted. "Erm?" She squeaked, regarding the lump she was sitting on.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"What the…" Ino stood up and looked at the seat. She hadn't noticed it when she sat down, but there was a stack of slips along with a note on top. "What's this?"

The girls picked the stack up and set it on the table. Sakura slipped the note off the top of the stack and read. "_Girls- don't worry, we decided to chip in for the bill. These our ours and the nieces coupons- they should cover it. See you tomorrow. –Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke and Naruto."_

The girls didn't know what to think of this. Did this mean the guys did go with the other girls? Did it mean they didn't? Or were they just being nice?

Were they even worried enough of about Ino at all?

"Well…at least they cared that much," offered Sakura, looking on brighter terms.

"Yeah," Ino rubbed the back of her neck, though her heart was only half agreeing with what she was saying. "I guess so."

Sakura picked up the slips and counted them. She looked satisfied after doing so.

"Just enough," she said, relieved. "We'll just leave these here and go. I don't know about you guys, but I really wanna get home," she said, slapping the stack on the bill, crumpling up the girls note from the floor, tossing it in the trash.

"Long last," Tenten sighed, closing her eyes as the girls turned to walk out of the restaurant.

They walked sluggishly. The part of them that always had held them up, made them walk and speak, _live_ with confidence seemed to be missing from them. The nieces had taken it.

"Thank you for dining with us," a waitress said, holding out a tray of peppermints, smiling as she did so. The girls could tell this was pretty much all that made up this woman's job requirements. The girls each reluctantly took one and popped them in their mouths. "Happy holidays," the waitress said giddily as the girls walked out the doors.

"Yeah," Ino said barely audibly as they felt the winter wind hit them, the snow feeling like nails in their faces. "Happy holidays to us."

**I know it's so short. Don't be mad, please. I will hopefully make another later tonight, and if not tonight, I guarantee tomorrow. Thank you for reading, R and R please! Oh also, don't worry; things will look up for the girls soon. In the next chapter, things will get more interesting, you'll see!**


	12. Hyuuga's Wake Up Call

**I AM. SO. SORRY. I'm so sorry guys, I didn't update on Sunday like I promised! It's just that I won't be able to update till about the weekend because we have a test in every subject this week, and I have a gymnastics meet and every things just going so out of control. Please forgive be for this quick-chapter…it's only a fragment of what I first had planned for this chappie. Again, I'm sorry.**

Chapter 11:

Hyuuga's Wake Up Call

It was early in the morning. Much earlier than when a teenager should wake up on break.

Yet, the boys were up, wide-awake.

"So," Shikamaru yawned. So maybe they weren't so wide-awake. "Why again did you make us wake up at six thirty this morning, Neji?"

Neji took the boxed food out of the fridge and put each box on the counter.

"Because," he said in a low voice. "This is the only time I can use my uncle's investigative instruments without being caught," he answered, pertaining to the fact that Hiasha owned a wide variety of microscopes and the like, and was always very strict with Neji's using them.

"Ooh, badass Neji!" Naruto said loudly and boldly. Neji hissed him quiet.

"Would you shut up?" he asked. "You better not wake up any of my cousins, lest they inform Hiashi of what we're doing…they are well aware of the fact that I shouldn't be using these, and they won't hesitate to get me busted for it." Neji opened each box and slid one to each of his friends.

"Um…" Sasuke looked down at the box in front of him. "What are you suggesting we do?"

"Take the oil parts of the food and put them on these," he gave them each a glass slide. "Try to take as little of the actual food as possible, and try not to touch the surface of the slides if at all possible."

The guys just shrugged and obeyed.

It was slightly hard for Sasuke to extract oil, because a lot of it had already seeped into the sauce, but he did see where the oiled sauce was discolored from the normal sauce. He took the centered sauce and dabbed it on the slide.

Naruto was confused. _How to take oil off of pulled pork? _He examined it. Still couldn't find anything. He could tell where the oil had been, but he would have had to put an actual piece of food on the slide, which Neji suggested not to do…_Oh screw it. _Naruto put an oiled piece of pork on the slide.

Ino's wrap had come apart of night, the wrap having unrolled, giving him a clear shot of where the oil was. _Jeez, _he thought upon seeing the greasy contents. _That chef really did oil douse this thing. _It certainly wasn't hard to get grease off that thing.

Pools of grease had collected atop the fillet, so Neji too easily got grease on the slide.

"Ok, give me all your slides," he said, flipping open a book. The guys all gave them to him and he examined the first one.

"What exactly is the purpose?" Sasuke asked.

"Shh…" Neji held up a finger to silence Sasuke as he put his eye in the microscope. "Jeez…" he looked from the lens to a paragraph in the book. "This stuff is literally infested."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked, now wide-awake as he leaned forward. Neji changed slides.

"They're all the same…" muttered Neji. He looked back at the book and put his finger on something.

"Ok, mind telling us what exactly it is you're getting at??" Naruto hissed impatiently. Neji slowly brought his head up from the lens.

"That oil couldn't have been put in there by the chef," Neji concluded.

"And why not?" Sasuke asked.

"Because those were laxatives."

At Sakura's house… 

The girls rolled over on their beds at the piercing sounds of their alarms.

"Rrrrrm…." Ino groaned into her pillow. "Do your patients take kindly to this, Sakura?"

Sakura flopped her arm out and smacked her alarm off. "No," she said flatly. "We've gotten complaints more than once."

"Not hard to believe…" Tenten turned her alarm off and literally rolled out of bed.

"Good sleep," Hinata said, popping right out of bed. "I'll start breakfast," she said happily, whipping out a comb from her bedside table, combing her hair with it.

"I sure could use some of your enthusiasm right about now," Ino said, swinging her legs over the bed, but her upper body refused to succumb.

"Well, don't you remember what we vowed to do last night? Getting a prompt start, being put together?" Hinata tried to get her friends to remember or at least try to keep it alive.

"Mmmm…that vow is dead, Hinata. It's useless now." Sakura tried to refrain from letting her tears stain her pillow.

"She's right," said Tenten, still on the floor. She probably could have fallen asleep just as well right there she was so tired. "The envelope is licked. The guys chose them, game over."

"SHUT UP!"

They all sat up right away at Hinata's screech. They all looked at her, their jaws on the floor. They were in shock. Hinata was the last person they ever expected to let off a pitch like that.

"All this time I always felt like the weaker one, while you guys are the ones encouraging me to keep going and work at things," she said more calmly, walking to each of her friends, pulling them out of their beds. "But now, the one time I think I can work at something, and I don't know, _succeed _at it, it doesn't mean anything anymore!"

At this time, they all were standing up, listening to what Hinata had to say. They all felt like crying…not because what she was saying hurt them. It was because every word was nothing but the truth.

"I just…" Hinata slid down the wall and buried her face in her arms. "I'm tired of letting other people control my life. I'm _not_ going to let these nieces control when I do or don't give up." The girls could hear her sobbing, and they all gathered around her, sinking to their knees.

They knew Hinata had always been the one to keep more to herself, but they never knew that it really bothered her…in fact, they believed she preferred in that way. That's why they never meddled with it. They thought Hinata didn't want to be the bold mavericks the rest of the girls were, taking risks and getting landed in trouble for them.

Turns out there was more to Hinata then they ever took a second to realize. And they were determined to make up for it.

"You're so right Hinata," said Ino, feeling stupid for not having noticed this about Hinata before. "You shouldn't…_we_ shouldn't let them be the ones to decide our fates." Hinata smiled warmly at the fact her friend's were coming to their senses.

"Please," said Sakura, holding up a hand, breaking the bittersweet moment of friendship. "You're starting to sound like Neji there."

"Hey, is there something wrong with that?" Tenten asked in mock-defense. They all laughed and Hinata wiped her tears.

"Naw, course not," said Sakura, patting her on the shoulder. "Naruto changed all that."

"He sure did," nodded Hinata dreamily, staring at the plain wallpaper, recalling the fight between Naruto and Neji in the Chuunin exams. Ino snapped in all their faces.

"Sorry to break the moment again, but now that we've found our inner-strengths, I think we should kick off our rudely awakened day, what do you guys think?" She suggested. They all laughed again and nodded.

"Yeah, good idea," said Sakura, crawling to her feet, helping Hinata up. Tenten and Ino pulled each other up and all the girls went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Well, ladies," Sakura said as they all exited the room. "Mission: Steal our guys back begins now."

(queue Charlie's Angel's theme)

**SORRY AGAIN! I'm sorry that I won't be able to update till the end of the week, things are so much more hectic at school and gymnastics than I ever imagined they would be! I'm so sorry, again!**


	13. The Old Days

**Oh my gosh, hey guys. I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, and to make up for it, this chapter is extra long! It's not extremely eventful, but it's definitely necessary and you'll see why after you read it. I'm sorry! I hope this makes up for my lack of speed at the least! This is the longest chapter ever written in the history of Everlite fanfictions!**

Chapter 13:

The Old Days

"So," said Tenten, passing toast to everyone. "How shall we plot our revenge?"

The girls all fell into deep, silent thought. Sure, they had all been envisioning their vengeance for the longest time but they didn't exactly know…how to go about it.

"Erm…" Hinata drummed her fingers on the table. So much for her new found confidence.

They all sat in thought for a few minutes, their minds contemplating various ways to make the nieces pay. Death was not an easy option unfortunately, because that could mean exiling or worse for them. Plus their consciences would probably not allow it.

"Um…doyoy…guys?" Ino said, a realization striking her. "Am I the only one who jus realized we have jutsus?"

The girls looked unfazed.

"I see what you're getting at," said Sakura. "But remember? Tsunade had our jutsu abilities deactivated over the holiday break."

Tenten sat up.

"What?" she said incredulously. "When the hell did that become a rule??"

Sakura shrugged as she leaned back. "Last year, mass religious fighting broke out in a nearby village, and Tsunade just doesn't want that erupting here."

"How did you know about that?" Hinata asked her, nibbling at her toast.

"My parents are the top medics. They tell me things," she said. They all sighed in frustration. Just great. They don't have jutsus on their sides…where do they go from there?

"How did we get them on our sides in the first place?" Sakura asked them in a trivial way.

"How do you mean?" Tenten asked, wondering what Sakura was getting at.

"Well, we had to have done _something_ in the past that was the least bit alluring," Sakura explained to them. "Why else would they have stuck with us after all those years?"

"Because we were teammates," Tenten answered dully, spinning a pencil on its side. Sakura's face fell at Tenten's pessimistic remark.

"Well...I would have preferred to look at it as a certain character trait, but I guess that's true too," Sakura admitted somberly, looking down for no reason at the cedar table.

The strange silence followed again. The whole mission: steal their guys back plan had been very appealing a half hour ago, but when they actually tried to put it into action, they were pretty much drained of inspiration. Until Ino started coughing that is.

"Whoa, excuse me," Ino said, covering her mouth with the inside of her elbow, her other hand on her chest. "I don't know what-" Ino cut off mid sentence as she fell into a fit of coughing once more. Her friends looked down alarmingly at her.

"Are you all right Ino?" Hinata asked, putting her hand on Ino's hunched back. Ino's coughs only worsened.

"Ino!" Sakura jumped out of her chair and ran to Ino's side. Ino's head was hanging down, rising and falling with each cough. Ino tried to steady her by her shoulders.

"What's wrong with her?" Tenten asked worriedly, looking at Ino's reddened face and watering eyes.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, leaving Ino's side to run to her kitchen cabinets. "Yet."

She pulled out a basket and rummaged through it. She pulled out a red flashlight and clicked on to make sure it worked. After seeing it did, she ran back to Ino's side.

"Head up, Ino," Sakura advised her, turning the flashlight on. Ino was still coughing painfully, but she obeyed. "Now open your mouth wide and say 'aah'."

Ino opened her mouth as wide as she could, which was pretty wide, knowing Ino. Sakura directed the flashlight to the back of her throat and her, Hinata and Tenten looked inside it. When Sakura got a good look, she gasped and immediately pulled back.

"Oh my god!" she said, dropping the flashlight.

"What is it?" Tenten asked, worried at the sight of the more collected one of them panicking this way.

"Whatever that poisoning was, it's infesting Ino's throat from when she was throwing up last night!" Sakura ran back to her cabinet and began to frantically dig through her medicines.

"Meaning?" Hinata asked, her hand on Ino's quivering shoulder.

"Her throat's bleeding constantly!" Sakura groaned this, returning with about five medicine boxes in her arms. Hinata and Tenten gasped too and Ino's eyes widened in horror.

"No, no, no," Ino squealed, her voice hoarse from the pain. "This can't be happening, not now…" she coughed again violently, sending blood trickling down her chin from her cough. This only made Ino groan more.

"Her breakfast must have activated the bacteria," Sakura mused aloud, wiping the blood off Ino's chin, Ino feeling like a baby just then. "I'm not quite sure how, since I haven't learned a whole lot about internal injuries yet, but I do know that it could result in scarring if it's not treated properly. There's also much pain in the meantime."

"Well that's just great," Ino rasped, clearing her throat, then wincing at the pain brought about my doing so.

"Don't worry," Sakura consoled, twisting the cap off one of her medicines. "I can heal it, but…" Sakura's voice trailed off.

"But what?" Tenten asked, leaning in.

"It would take some bed rest…" Sakura bit her lip as she trailed off again. Tenten leaned in closer.

"How long?" She asked furtherly.

"Seven hours at the very least," Sakura said quickly, mixing two of her medicines together.

Ino's mouth hung open. "Seven…hours?"

"Seven hours," Sakura repeated, nodding sadly on Ino's behalf.

"And what time is it now?" Tenten asked, biting her nails.

"Twelve o'clock," Hinata answered nervously. All the girls' faces fell.

"I'm sorry Ino," Sakura said solemnly, patting Ino's shoulder sympathetically. "You…won't be able to make it to the academy today. Besides, it's best you stay in bed anyway," she added, hoping it would soften the pain a little bit. A corner of Ino's mouth lifted ever so slightly in appreciation to Sakura's attempt, but the three of them could tell she was torn up that she wouldn't be able to take part in the plotting of the revenge.

"Please don't be angry!" Hinata pleaded, knowing that Ino often times over reacted about things. However, much to her surprise, Ino spoke softly and rationally in response.

"No, it's ok," Ino said, her voice so soft it nearly rivaled Hinata's. "Like I said last night- better me then all of us." She sipped the medicine down that Sakura had mixed for her and stood up. "I better go get some rest…the sooner the better. I'll give you guys a call on my cell in case anything goes wrong."

With that, she simply walked off to the patient's bedroom.

"Oh yeah," she added, stopping and turning the face the flabbergasted threesome. "Make that revenge good," she said with a grin. "I want that bitch goddess to bleed on the inside_ and _out." The girls knew she was sarcastic, but nodded.

"You can count on it," Tenten said with a nod, punching her fist into her hand, indicating that the bitch goddess was to be taken down.

"Thank you," Ino rasped before turning around and entering the bedroom, closing the door behind her. When the click was heard, Tenten's head swung around furiously.

"Ok," she said, pacing around the kitchen, looking as if she were ready to break something, or rather in this case, someone. "Now I really _do _want to make them bleed on the inside and out. I mean, yeah, I knew they were low from the moment I saw them, but _that _low? I have to admit I gave them more credit than _that…"_

Sakura nodded with everything Tenten said, but kept her cool, and naturally, as did Hinata.

"I know what you mean," sighed Sakura, pressing her palm to her forehead as she closed her eyes. "On one hand, we don't want to stoop as low as them, but on the other, they can't just get away with what they did. This kind of makes our revenge hard to acquire, huh?" She stroked her chin frustratingly, angry that the oversized brain of hers couldn't seem to conjure up the tiniest bit of an idea of a simple and clean revenge.

A very stern, irritating silence followed as the girls thought as hard as they could a way to take revenge on the niece's….while stealing their guys back. Or two in one.

But they couldn't.

After a long ten minutes, Sakura finally sighed and put her hand down on the table.

"Well guys," she began, her head hung in shame. "Looks like for the first time in our lives, we're about to dive into a mission with no plan whatsoever."

_With Ino…(3:15 PM)_

Tears silently rolled down Ino's porcelain cheeks as she scribbled depressing entries into her purple diary. Her throat had been burning more than ever, and every few minutes she had to cough up blood, leaving Sakura's medic sheets stained. _Sorry Sakura, _Ino thought between sniffs. _Dry cleaning will be a bit tough for this blanket._

Because of her crying, her nose had gotten congested.

Ino was developing a bad taste in her mouth as well. The rude tasting medicine Sakura had mixed hadn't helped the irony taste of blood in her mouth either. But for some reason, the medicine tasted oddly familiar. She would have probed from where, but she was feeling too horrible to try.

"Please, guys," Ino silently pleaded to her friends, though knowing they could not hear her. "Make them pay…"

Then suddenly, Shikamaru's face came to her mind. She had no idea why of all times it had, but it did. Come to think of, he had been a huge factor as to how the conflict between the girls and nieces had even come to be.

Ino recalled a moment with herself and Shikamaru, only years back before he had even gone to the Sand Country.

"Hey Shika!" The perky blond tugged on the lazy boy's sleeve, dragging him to some nearby bushes. The boy sighed.

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…what is it?" He scratched his head dumbly, looking down at the shrubs Ino had brought him to. _

"_I think I found something for us to eat!" Ino said this with much enthusiasm, pointing down at the berries growing off the stems of the bushes. Them two along with Chouji had been sent on a mission in, where else, the woods, and they had been lacking food for what felt like a lifetime. They were all (Notably Chouji) so hungry they could have eaten beetles and have felt satisfied. _

"_Hmmm…" Shikamaru bent down to examine the berries. Shikamaru may have been a genius, but that didn't mean he was exactly well read on the history and anatomy of strange berries growing off of lone bushes in the woods. He could still tell poisonous berries from good ones…but not exactly what was in between. "I don't know, Ino…" he concluded, picking a berry off it's stem and rolling it between two fingers. _

"_What do you mean you don't know??" Ino cried, stamping her foot. Shikamaru flinched. Odd, what starvation could do to a teenage girl._

Ino sniffed. Thinking back, she had tamed her temper a lot better now then she had then.

"_Well, the colors are intermixed, so there's little if not no telling whether they're poisonous or not," he answered back calmly, hoping to soothe Ino's temper. _

_Which, knowing Ino, did not turn out the way he had hoped. Ino crossed her arms over her then undeveloped chest._

Ino looked down at her own chest. Interesting what only a few years of puberty could do.

"_Why don't you try them then?" She asked Shikamaru, as if it were the simplest explanation in the world. _

"_Why don't you?" Shikamaru quipped, knowing very well Ino oftentimes rose to challenges._

"_Because I could die!" Ino scoffed, her hand on her chest. _

"_Well, Ino," Shikamaru said reasonably. "SO COULD I."_

"_Better you than me!" Ino challenged angrily, steam almost blowing out her ears. _

Ino flinched at the last line. Yet another blatant difference between who she was then, and who she was now had appeared in that very memory. She could have counted on her fingers.

_"Aw, you're saying you'd want me to die Ino, is that it?" Shikamaru asked in mock sadness, pretending to wipe a tear away._

_At this, Ino's temper died and her shoulders fell limper than they had before as her defenses weakened. Her face had turned a bit red at this remark._

_"Well…" she said, biting her lip, not sure of what she wanted when it came to Shikamaru, let alone why she was even feeling the way she was then upon the thought._

_"Well?" Shikamaru asked, tapping his foot. Ino became even redder now. Having been Shikamaru's teammate for a respectable amount of time, they certainly had their fair share of quarrels…but seemingly, up till that moment, that very question, Ino had never felt any remorse for what she had said and done to Shikamaru._

_She had never felt like she…well, cared about him. A little bit…a lot?_

_"Still alive, Ino?" Yawned Shikamaru, breaking her train of thought. Ino snapped back into reality._

_"Alive and well," Ino said, straightening her posture as her regular amount of blood returned to her face. "And we'll just see whether or not it stays that way in a few minutes, won't we?"_

_Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Ino…" he said sternly, unsure of what Ino's next move was going to be, although he had a pretty good idea of what she was getting at._

_And sure enough, he was right. Ino plucked a berry clean off the bush and popped it into her mouth._

_Shikamaru's eyes widened even more. "Ino!" he said frantically, as Ino chewed and swallowed nonchalantly. "You have no idea what could be in those!"_

_"Hm, that's strange," Ino said, tapping her chin. "Because I do recall you not having cared about that a few minutes ago."_

_Now, it was Shikamaru's turn to go red (AN: well, not in that way.) At the moment, he hadn't cared, but now that she had done it, he was actually feeling worried about Ino._

_Him…worried about Yamanaka Ino?_

_"You're still my teammate," Shikamaru explained in excuse. "And if you die, that would create complications for Chouji and I, and we wouldn't carry out the mission." Shikamaru was kidding of course, but he was sure Ino saw it that way once seeing her face contort._

_"Why you…" Ino didn't get to finish her sentence, as her hand flew to her stomach and the other clapped over her mouth._

_"Ino?" Shikamaru asked, stepping closer to Ino as she hunched over. "Are you-"_

_Ino didn't hear what he was going to say next, as she ran off before then into the woods. Shikamaru just store at the spot she was only a few seconds ago, and looked back up._

_"Huh," he said to himself, following the tracks of stamped grass heading towards the deeper woods. "Ino!" He called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Now where did she…Ino?"_

_Shikamaru's eye caught a scheme of purple over behind a tree. He also saw a fountain of long blond hair._

_"Ino," he sighed in relief, running over the tree behind which Ino was._

_Ino wasn't deaf. She heard the rustling of leaves as Shikamaru approached her. But she didn't want him to._

_"Don't come any closer if you don't want to be disgusted," she groaned, flinging her hand out behind her to stop him from rounding the tree to check up on her._

_"Come on Ino," Shikamaru said. "I've seen limbs chopped off, people decapitated, animals torn from the inside out…" His voice grew softer. "I can handle whatever it is your going through right now."_

_This seemed to convince Ino, as her hand dropped, indicating Shikamaru allowance to come closer. Shikamaru rounded the tree to see Ino's head hung over, a puddle of bile in front of her. Shikamaru cringed._

_Ino sniffed again. The story she was remembering was appearing oddly familiar._

_"I warned you," Ino grumbled under her breath, embarrassed that Shikamaru had to see her like this…although she wasn't exactly sure why she was feeling so embarrassed. It was only her teammate Shikamaru after all._

_Well, maybe the fact she had brought the whole thing upon herself added to the embarrassment a little._

_Either way, she was well prepared for whatever sarcastic or grossed out remark Shikamaru was ready to make upon seeing her blow chunks. She was so ready to hear the well deserved words of mockery that were prepared to be delivered to her ears…_

_Ino could both feel and hear Shikamaru advance and crouch down next to her._

_"I'm not disgusted, Ino," came his soft reply. To Ino's surprise, he laid a hand on her back just as soft. "I'm concerned."_

_Ino turned her head to face Shikamaru. His words didn't lie. His face did look concerned…about her._

_"Come on," he said, standing up, lifting Ino to her feet. "There's medical supplies back at camp. We're sure to find something to settle your stomach."_

_Shikamaru was careful to lead her back slowly, afraid that quick and immediate movements would cause her stomach to act up even more._

_Ino was appalled. Why had she never seen this side of Shikamaru? She had always thought of him as lazy, incompetent, rude…but then she realized, this is how Shikamaru's been the entire time, herself just being too blind to see it._

_When they arrived at camp, Chouji was doing what he did with his time when he wasn't eating. He was out snoozing on a log, looking surprisingly comfortable._

_Shikamaru walked by and sat Ino on the log closest to the fire pit. Nightfall was nearing, at they would need all the light they could get. He figured he would start a fire later._

_He then opened a first aid kit and took out some medicine that Sakura's parents had prepared for genin and chuunin missions. He poured some of the liquid medicine into the cap._

_"Here," he said, handing it to Ino. "I know it may taste nasty, but it will make you feel better." Ino took it and sniffed it, recoiling at the foul scent. "Trust me," Shikamaru added._

_Ino eyes loomed from the medicine cap to Shikamaru. "I trust you," she said, gulped down the medicine. Shikamaru grinned. That was the good old Ino. Always taking the chances._

_"Shikamaru," Ino said, gulping. Shikamaru looked at her._

_"Hm?"_

_"Why…why are you doing this for me? I mean, after the way I've treated you." Ino looked at him curiously, her heart longing for the answer more than it longed for food._

_Shikamaru looked surprised at this question. Why was he helping her? He could have just as easily left her to barf, having only herself to blame for being a maverick._

_But that's not what he did. He chose to help her._

_"Well, because," Shikamaru looked away from her quickly, pretending to unhook something from his weapons pouch, when he was really trying to hide his blush. "I care about you, Ino," he said._

_Ino looked taken aback. Did he just say…?_

_"You know, I care about you," Shikamaru repeated, catching Ino's physically response. "That's what friends do, right?" He nudged her. Ino's expression fell, but she tried not to let it look too obvious._

_"Right," she said, looking away. "Friends. Of course."_

Ino's tears had subsided, and now she was just left feeling gloomy.

_That night, after some small talk with Shikamaru, Ino lay down in her sleeping bag, feeling ten times better physically._

_But something deep within her felt like it was dying. Shikamaru's words echoed in her ears._

_"That's what friends do, right?"_

_"Yeah," Ino answered to her self silently. "But what if I want more than that?"_

Ino touched her lips gently, now recalling the familiar sensation of Sakura's medicine.

With just that memory, Ino was sent back into tears.

Ino scribbled in her diary.

**You were right beside me then, Shikamaru…where are you now?**

_With Hinata (same time)…_

Hinata stepped into the skirt Sakura had pocked out for her to wear to the academy that day, having claimed that it would "send Mollie back to the slums where she belongs", when Naruto sees her in it.

Hinata was feeling a bit doubtful upon going without Ino. Surely, since Whitney would be left with Shikamaru alone, it would mean she and the other two girls would have to double their defenses in order to keep Whitney from slutting up to Shikamaru.

Sluts. Urgh. Hinata hated them…sure, her friends wore short skirts and the occasional tight polos, but that had never defined them as sluts. No, Hinata had never known the true definition of a slut until laying eyes on those nieces.

Naruto may have been slow, but he wasn't stupid. Hinata knew that he would know a slut when he saw one. So why can't he just see that now?

Besides, Hinata had known Naruto so much longer. She knew things about him Mollie would never even know if she snuck into his house and rampaged (which she may or may have not done already.)

Hinata looked down as she zipped up her skirt on the side.

She recalled the day that sent her feelings for Naruto to their all time high. The day that felt so long ago, though she would never forget.

_"Whatsup, Hinata?" The spiky haired blond flung a kunai at a target as the small Hyuuga girl approached him silently._

_"N-nothing Naruto," she stammered in reply. "I was just w-wonder if y-you needed help t-training…is all." She turned red as a tomato and looked away. Her friends had persuaded her to finally approach Naruto in this fashion, and she was having doubts about having given in. As if it wasn't bad enough she couldn't hold her stutter, she couldn't hit a target for her life._

_"Sure!" Naruto brightened up. Hinata looked up and smiled. So far so good._

_Naruto ran to the target tree and pulled about ten kunais out of the trunk…all of them dead on the target._

_Hinata moved to where Naruto had been throwing and measured the distance in her head. How did he do it? She knew Naruto trained relentlessly, but she could never recall a time when relentless practice ever did her any good. This made her feel even weaker than ever._

_Naruto returned with a basket full of kunai and set them down between Hinata and himself._

_"You ready?" he asked her, a smile big enough to resurrect a wilting flower. Hinata nodded a small nod._

_"Y-yes, b-but I'm not very g-good with throwing…" Hinata's voice trailed off as Naruto kept looking at her, waiting for her to go on. She said her next sentence even softer. "I…I was hoping y-you c-could show me h-how…"_

_"No problem!" Naruto said right away, his smile brightening even more as he picked a kunai up out of the basket and gave it to Hinata. Hinata took it and looked back up at him as he took one for himself._

_"So this is what you do," he said, holding the kunai back behind his head. "You want to keep your eyes on the target at all times. Chakra forces and mental forces work as one when you concentrate hard enough, and when they do, your arm will just know where exactly to throw it. You with me so far?" He turned his head to Hinata, who simply nodded a response. "Ok. So, first, let me see your form…"_

_Hinata obeyed as she stretched the kunai behind her head, ready to fling it. But then, Naruto's hand covered hers._

_"It shouldn't be slanted this way so much," he said, moving it for her. "You will end up coming up short of the target." He finished adjusting her hand and took a step back. "Now try," he said._

_Hinata nodded again and concentrated as hard as she could on the target. She never wanted to keep her eyes off any sharp object she handled, but she didn't want to come off as weak to Naruto. She trusted him._

_Her confidence in Naruto soon built into confidence in herself, and she soon enough flung the kunai forward with much form and grace, as it cut through the air in an almost perfectly straight line. Hinata in shock, watching it go and hit the bull's eye._

_"Oh my…" Hinata gasped, completely taken aback as what she had just done. Her greatest weakness had developed into her greatest pride with only a few instructions from the guy she admired._

_"You did it, Hinata!" Naruto bounced up and down to Hinata, wrapping her up in a congratulatory hug. Hinata felt like she was walking on thin air as she hugged him back gently._

_"Thank you, Naruto," Hinata said gratefully, not a trace of stutter in her words. Naruto let go of her, beaming._

_"No problem! What are friends for?" He gave her a thumbs up as he jogged happily to the target to pull out the kunai Hinata had just thrown._

_Hinata was feeling a dual of emotions. Was she feeling happy or depressed? She had every reason to feel happy, but the last thing Naruto said sent her spirits down._

_"Friends," Hinata repeated to herself._

Hinata squinted her eyes as she put her shirt on.

"You were helping me with my difficulties long before you met Mollie, Naruto," she squeaked to herself. "But now, after no more than two days, you choose her…is that what friends are really for?"

She left the room silently.

_With Sakura…(same time)_

Sakura was angry.

She was angry at Whitney for poisoning Ino's food.

She was angry at Clarissa for stealing Sasuke.

She was angry and Mollie and Courtney for taking Naruto and Neji from Hinata and Tenten.

But first and foremost, she was angry at Sasuke for giving in the act in the first place. Sasuke was the smartest person she knew. She was so sure he could have easily seen through the girl's façade.

Ever since day one, Sasuke had always lectured Sakura on how weak, lovesick and useless she was when she spent days on end just vying for his attention.

And there was a girl, ten times worse and obvious as she was then, practically melting onto him, and he doesn't even make a move to shrug her off! It made Sakura sick.

She angrily buttoned her blouse as she thought about the day, about two years ago that seemed to stick out in her memory.

_"Hey, Sasuke!" Sakura waved her arm to Sasuke, motioning for him to come over._

_Sasuke sighed, but obeyed. He may have gotten used to girls going gaga over him, but having one of them as a teammate did strike his nerves._

_"What?" he said plainly, hands jammed in pockets. Sakura looked down at the ground, and dragged her foot around in front of her._

_"Well, Christmas is coming up, and I was just wondering…is there anything you, oh I dunno, want?" She asked as casually and humanly possible._

_Sasuke looked pokerfaced as he prolonged the already embarrassing pause that came after Sakura's question._

_"I don't celebrate Christmas," he sighed finally, causing Sakura's face to drop._

_"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth. "Do you celebrate Hanukah then? The fifth night is tomorrow, I can still…"_

_"I mean I don't celebrate ANY holidays in ANY shape or form," Sasuke cleared up, frustrated at his persistent teammate. He helped up his hand in a 'nada' fashion for emphasis._

_When Sakura was unresponsive for a second, Sasuke took it as a time to leave. He turned and started walking away. Sakura simply stared at the back of his head as he walked away. She didn't want him to leave yet…or at least not leave thinking she was a complete weirdo._

_"Why not?"_

_Sasuke stopped at Sakura's words, but didn't look back._

_"Why not what?" he asked._

_Sakura walked closer._

_"Why don't you celebrate the holidays?" She repeated steadily, eager to hear his answer. Sasuke rotated his head slightly to her._

_"I…" he looked at the ground, not wanting to say what he was going to say next. "For the longest time…" what he was about to say would make him appear weak…the last thing he ever wanted to be. But for some reason, with only him and Sakura, it felt…secure. "I've never had anybody to celebrate them with," he said quickly in a 'that's it, end of story' way. This was in regards to his clan being wiped out by his mentally insane brother. Ever since then…holidays had never been the same. They were all about being together with loved ones._

_Loved ones Sasuke had lost, and would probably never gain again._

_He turned his head back forward at the thought and began walking again. However, after hearing this, Sakura wasn't about to let him leave._

_"Hey," she said, stopping him yet again. He sighed and turned his head._

_"What?"_

_Sakura walked to him again, and for some odd reason…beamed at him. He looked down at her confusedly. Why was she smiling like that?_

_"You can always celebrate them with me," she whispered to him, the snow falling by their faces. "Remember that."_

_They were close. Very close. So close, if one were to so much as stumble, they would send themselves right into the other._

_But nothing became of it but Sasuke's half-hearted reply. But even so, anything said by Sasuke with a fragment of heart was something to feel assured about._

_"Thank you, Sakura," he said, unsure of why he was agreeing. "You've…always been family to me."_

_After saying this humiliating confession, Sasuke turned and walked away for real this time, cursing him self as he did so. He never spoke like that! Sasuke Uchiha has never said anyone remote to what he just said to anyone, much less one of his fan girls. He cursed himself all the way home._

_Sakura on the other hand, stayed where she was, looking at the ground where Sasuke had been standing._

_"Family…" she repeated, nodding. "…It's a start…I guess…" feeling more freezing than ever in the cold snow, she walked home._

Sakura did a half smile at her memory. Sasuke had changed a lot. He had gotten a lot more open, not to mention a good haircut in contrast, just when she thought it wasn't possible.

Just one thing about it bothered her as she picked up her purse and turned the doorknob.

"I guess I'll always be just family to you, Sasuke." She left her room and went to meet up with her friends.

_With Tenten (whadya know, same time)…_

Tenten had changed quickly.

Seeing as all else felt lost, she just thought, "screw dressing to impress", and threw on her reliable capris and well fitted T-shirt. She didn't want to show up as a slob, so she followed Sakura's color scheme advice, but she didn't do much else to complete her look. She even, for about the first time in a few months, had her double buns in. She had almost forgotten what it was like to have her buns in.

Ah, her buns…what horrific, yet amazing memories they brought back. Back when nothing seemed to matter nearly as much. Back when not all was fair in love and war.

_"You know, Tenten, you'd move with twice the agility you already do if you switched to a single bun," Lee advised her, being one to know how to increase speed._

_Tenten shifted her position against the tree trunk she was sitting against, as the two were taking their lunch break, waiting for Neji to come. He always had an uncanny knack for coming late to meals, as he felt there was no such thing as too much training time and no such word as 'relaxation'._

_Tenten sighed. Things were always such a, well, requirement with Neji. For him it was never 'I'll do it when I get around to it,' or 'maybe I will, maybe I won't," it was always 'I can, I will, I must.' It sometimes made her worried for him._

_"Tenten?" Lee prodded Tenten's head to awaken her. Tenten snapped back into reality. "Did you listen to a word I just said?" He asked her, sort of annoyed, but Lee being Lee, didn't show it._

_"Oh, yeah," Tenten lied, propping her head up. Lee folded his bandaged arms over his chest._

_"All right then, what was I talking about before I woke you up from your daydream?" He quizzed her. Tenten thought fast. Come on, there had to be something she recalled hearing, after all, she was still awake. Just daydreaming is all._

_"Um, something about my buns," she said confidently, knowing that that's where the subject was before she dozed off._

_Lee made a buzzer noise. "Wrong," he said._

_"What do you mean, 'wrong?'" She asked, swinging to face him. "I'm sure that's what we were talking about."_

_"Nuh uh," Lee shook his head. "That's what we were talking about before…after I realized you began staring into space, I switched the topic to something that might interest you a bit more. Oddly enough, it didn't."_

_"What is this grand subject you speak of?" Tenten asked him, grinning. It was always interesting to see Lee's point of view on things. The way his head worked was nothing short of amusing sometimes._

_"Neji," he answered simply._

_Well, this wasn't at all what Tenten was expecting. Shurikens, kunais, daggers, weapons of various types, those were what she was expecting. But Neji?_

_"Uh, what makes you think such a subject interests me?" She asked him nervously. Lee was the one grinning this time._

_"Aw, you know, I've been around," he said, bumping himself off the tree to walk around and make arm movements. "And being on your team, don't think I've failed to notice the way you look at him when he trains…especially when he trains shirtless."_

_Tenten's mouth dropped open, her eyes widened. On hot days, Neji would always train without a shirt on, revealing his finely toned abbs and biceps to whoever was there to see them. Which to him, there were none, as he always did this on his own. Little did he know however, Tenten was in fact there every so often to oversee his training…well, uninvited, but you never know!_

_"I do not watch Neji train shirtless!" She defended as she jumped to her feet, saying this a bit louder than she intended. Especially since what she heard next made her want to stick a dagger in herself and die._

_"I thought I felt a presence that one time…" she heard the grumble from behind her. Tenten choked on what felt like nothing but her shock as she turned to see Neji right behind her, a somewhat disturbed yet amused look on his face, and of course, the signature seriously impassive look in his eyes. Tenten gulped._

_"Lee's mixed up" Tenten shrugged, blushing madly. Neji raised an eyebrow. Tenten at first felt completely caught red handed. But then, a thought struck her. A fun way to get revenge on Lee. "Oh, he didn't tell you?" She asked, pretending to be shocked._

_"What?" Neji asked, as if the answer didn't really interest him at all._

_"He came out to me today…so sweet," she said, pretending to be lovey eyed. Neji' s eyes widened and Lee sucked in his cheeks._

_"Wha??" he squeaked. "I did no such-"_

_"You don't have to be embarrassed, Lee!" Tenten said, pinching a flustered cheek of Lee's. "It'll be our little secret." She put her finger on her lips and winked at him._

_Neji looked even more amused than before. His arms were crossed over his chest, but he looked ready to bust out laughing. Seemingly though, such an action is pretty much impossible for Neji Hyuuga to achieve._

_"Well, Lee," Neji said, nodding. "I always did think you had that feminine spirit in you."_

_Tenten giggled while Lee just flushed more, his mouth opening to defend himself more, but no words sounding except for "but I, but, but, but, but, but…" before he simply took off, his mind filled with ways to get revenge on Tenten later._

_Once he was long gone, Neji and Tenten were left alone, sharing an awkward silence._

_"You know, he's not really-" Tenten started to admit to Neji before he cut in._

_"Don't worry, I'm aware," he nodded. "I just couldn't help but see that look on his face."_

_Tenten smiled. "Oh," she said simply, sitting back down against the tree, secretly feeling stupid. 'Doy, Tenten!' her thoughts screamed at her. 'What did you think? He's got Bayakugan, remember?'_

_"So," Neji said stiffly, looking ahead as he opened a bottle of water and drank from it. "Do you really watch me train shirtless?" he asked her, a peculiar look on his face._

_Oh great. Tenten's face turned red again. How in the hell was she going to answer that? The truth? A lie? Either one would result in chaos between them. The only way to escape without possible emotional scars would be to make a fast get away, but then again, that would be weird…_

_"Tenten?"_

_Tenten snapped back again as she started dozing into her rabid thoughts again._

_"Um, I," Tenten bit her lip. Come on, THINK! "Well, yeah," she said slowly, her eyes darting around for something to add on after she saw Neji's eyebrows shoot up. "But not in the way you think," she assured him._

_"Oh?" he asked her, taking another drink of water._

_"Yeah, well, you see, I was walking through the woods one day, and I came across this um…exotic looking bird." Tenten's excuses were becoming so stupid lately she could have blown her own head up. If this one got by Neji, she was sure the world would have gone mad. But for some odd reason, she kept going on. "I decided to follow it, and what do you know, I came across a clearing where you happened to be training…and you happened to not have a shirt on…" Tenten trailed off, her mind unable to think of anymore excuses. Not even bad ones._

_An odd silence followed as Neji mused and Tenten mentally slapped herself numerous times._

_"Ah," he said finally, crunching up his water bottle and tossing it into a nearby bag. "Advice for the future Tenten," he said to her. Tenten turned red as he started walking past her._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Next time you want to watch me while I train," he said, stopping by her. "Just ask," he said softer. He started walking again, leaving Tenten shocked._

_"You…you mean you're not bothered or anything?" she asked dumbly, too stupefied to pay attention to her common sense._

_Neji stopped, but his head faced forward. "Why would I be?" he asked her dully, no up rise in his voice, but no down fall either. Typical Neji voice. "We're all just teammates after all," he shrugged, continuing to walk once more._

_Tenten nodded as he walked off, knowing he couldn't see her._

_"Y-yeah," she said, as if to the tree trunk. "Teammates, Neji."_

_She sighed and tilted her head back against the tree trunk, finding herself at a loss for any thoughts or words._

_And all because of some stupid conversation about her buns._

Tenten hopped off the couch she was sitting on and stretched out her arms.

"Well, Neji," she said to herself. "We're certainly not teammates anymore," she walked to the kitchen. "So, what are we now?"

_Sakura, Hinata, Tenten in kitchen, 3:30…_

"So," Sakura said, scratching her head. "We might as well go a bit early…Kakashi may, you know…need some extra help or something."

"Yeah, maybe," Tenten mumbled.

"Hm," Hinata nodded. For some reason, their memories had sent them all into some deep, meaningful silences you can only catch them keeping up during one of their favorite soaps or something.

In other words, these silences occurred only during times when circumstances were too strong for words. And this was one of those circumstances.

All Sakura did was hitch her neck in the direction of the door and the three of them left.

The silence carried on during the whole way to the academy.

It was only five minutes, but it might as well have been a lifetime.

**Hey, I hope you liked that chapter. It was reminiscing, I know, but it was supposed to bring out how their relationships have come along over the past two years, and emphasize just how painful it is to have it be shattered by the nieces. I hope some of you understand what point I meant to put across with this chapter. Sometimes, you need to look deeper into things to really get what they are. Anyways, I'd also like to say I have nothing against gay people or lesbians, I swear. The tidbit about Lee was mostly a way to get Neji and Tenten alone. Just clearing that up. Anyways, look out for future chapters, the guys will come back in the next chapter!**

**Also, since it took me so long to update, I'll give you a…**

**SNEAK PEAK!**

**Next chapter: Some true opinions are brought into light from even the most unexpected people…**


	14. The Nieces Get Dismissed!

**Voila! Finally, the next chapter, sorry about the wait. Don't worry; this will be finished by Christmas. Happy 8th night of Hanukkah, also! **

**Just a heads up, the keyboard on this computer is screwed up, I need to type really hard for the words to come out right, so if you find letters missing, don't be mad! **

Chapter 14:

The Nieces Are Dismissed!

The girls emptily walked into the academy, and to none of their surprise, there was no one to be seen.

"Hinata," Tenten sighed. "Time?"

"Ten, about fifteen till," Hinata answered, her voice echoing through the empty room, regardless of it's softness.

"Kakashi should be here," Sakura said, looking around oddly. "Where is he?" She turned her head, but didn't bother to look anywhere else.

"Jeez, punctuality sucks," said Tenten, falling against the wall behind her, looking up to the ceiling.

"You're telling me," agreed Sakura, doing the same. Hinata simply stood where she was, watching the door. One of two things would enter those doors first; they're worst nightmares, or they're holiday wishes. She was nervous to face either one.

The girls stood in silence for no more than two minutes before Sakura's head perked up, like a deer noticing a car driving by.

"What?" asked Tenten, opening her eyes after dozing off (brings back old times.)

"Did you here that?" Sakura asked quietly, eyeing the nearby hallway. They could see the doorway into the hallway, but not down it.

"Hear wha-" Sakura covered Tenten's mouth and put her finger to her own mouth, indicating her to shush.

"Just listen," she whispered.

The three girls turned their ears toward the hallway Sakura had pointed at and listened. They could indeed hear voices speaking lowly…as to whom they belonged to, the girls didn't know. Yet.

"Let's get closer," Tenten said, being the sly and sneaky minded one of them. She walked quietly, sure not to make noise with her shoes. Her friends did the same and they all rounded their heads around the corner slightly, but not too obviously.

And sure enough, just down the hallway, there stood Anko and Kakashi. By the looks of it, Kakashi was frustrated for whatever reason and Anko was trying to explain and/or defend something.

This 'something' would be revealed shortly, the girls knew. So they braced their ears and listened intently.

"I swear, Anko, one more day of having to play lovey oblivious uncle to those girls and I'll blow my top."

The girls could almost feel the heat boiling off Kakashi at that moment.

"It's only for the break, Kakashi…I know they are a bit hard to handle, but-"

"Hard to handle? Honestly Anko, it's unbearable. How much have they annoyed me? Let me count the ways…" Kakashi said the last sentences in a mock poetic tone of voice. "They've been rude to the girls since the moment they laid eyes on them, they turn around and act all sweet to me like they mean no harm, then they literally _swamp _the boys I've known for six or seven years!" Kakashi threw his hands in the air. Anko tried to calm him.

"Ok, that last part, I understand. They've always been a bit, well, _advanced _when it comes to boys."

Kakashi looked at her blankly like she had just informed him that the earth was in fact round.

"_Advanced?" _he hissed incredulously. "I'm sorry Anko, but they're slu-"

"KAKASHI!" Anko silenced him frantically. "Watch your tongue! They're only young teenage girls!"

"Physically, yes, but mentally…" Kakashi shook his head, his voice growing calmer. He brought his head up. "And since when do you care about age? You had no problem flinging a kunai at Naruto at the beginning of the first round of the chuunin exams," Kakashi reminded her lightly. Anko turned red.

"Well, that was only because…" She stammered for an excuse. "That was a long time ago, I was different," she succumbed, her pride demeaning. "But that's not what we're discussing," she added quickly, turning the conversation back to the nieces. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Anko," he said, putting his hands on her shoulder. "This can't go on."

Anko's eyes widened in horror at what he said.

"Kakashi! You're not-"

"What? No! I didn't mean between us!" Kakashi cleared up. Anko looked notably relieved. "I meant with those girls of yours. They can't keep going on like this. I haven't even seen Ino or Sakura smile in days, and they're always smiling."

Anko closed her eyes as Kakashi said this, nodding slightly to a few things. She had to admit, he was striking some good points.

"I…see what you mean," she succumbed, leaning against the wall beside her. "Here, I know what I'll do-"

Just then, the three girls had been leaning so far around the corner that Tenten's foot had caught on one of the mop strings around her feet, causing it to make a large squeak as her foot slid backwards. Tenten instinctively grabbed on to Sakura's arm for balance, sending her to the ground with her. Her feet swinging out from under her also tripped up Hinata.

And that is how the girls ended up a tangled pile of eavesdroppers, right there in front of Anko and Kakashi.

Kakashi and Anko just looked down at the girls, eyebrows raised.

"Erm…" Sakura scratched her head, which at the moment, was between Hinata's foot and Tenten's back. "Good afternoon?"

Kakashi just folded his arms over his chest.

"Girls," he said sternly, walking over to the tangled mess. "Did you hear everything we just said?" he asked them.

"Erm," Tenten scratched her head. "No! Well, maybe the last part…and some parts before that, and…erm yeah we did actually," she gave in as the girls started untangling. They all prepared themselves for whatever scolding was going to be put upon them by the couple.

Kakashi sighed and looked at them dead-on, and for a second, they were curious about whether or not he would charge them.

But to their surprise, he grinned instead.

"Well girls, your eavesdropping has done some good for once," Kakashi held his hand out to help up Hinata, who was on top of the bundle of girls. Confused, Hinata took it and Kakashi propped her up, enabling the other two girls to get up as well.

"Uh…what?" Sakura asked of hi statement as she stood up.

It was then that Anko strode up beside Kakashi, looking markedly annoyed. Kakashi looked at her, as if asking permission for something. She just gave a less than assuring shrug back, as if she didn't care what he did. Lover's quarrels…so wordless.

"I've been worried about you girls," Kakashi finally said. "I've come to notice that my nieces haven't exactly been the epitome of cordial since they've met you."

"You think?" Sakura said barely audibly. Kakashi went on.

"And I know that it seems as though I haven't noticed and don't care. But as you know, I do notice, and I do care. Which is why I-"

"You seemed to have been noticing a lot more than that a few minutes ago," muttered Anko under her breath, interrupting the now flustered Kakashi.

"Honey," he said through his teeth. "We'll talk about this later, ok?" The girls looked on awkwardly, not knowing what to do when witnessing couple tension.

"Whatever," Anko heaved back at him, looking away.

Kakashi was obviously worried about his disdained feeling wife, but he cleared his throat and continued.

"Erm, anyway, as I was saying, I…err…" He looked at Anko. "_We_ have decided that-"

"We're heeeeeere!!!"

The girls felt their blood run cold within their veins. The nightmare had begun.

"Uncle Kakashi!" The nieces pushed through the girls and flung themselves at Kakashi, giving him hugs and kisses. Kakashi's face brightened and he hugged them all back.

"Hi girls! Great to see you again!"

The other three watched this with more amusement then anger now. Kakashi should find an acting agency or something, because damn, he could go places with those acting skills.

"And Auntie Anko!" Mollie said, leaping into Anko's arms. Anko hugged them each back, a smile returned to her lips.

"Ah, hey girls!" She said.

The three girls had long since left that scene, if you can call 'long since' since the second the girls leapt at Anko.

They stood off to the side, admiring Kakashi's mad acting skills and Anko's obliviousness. That is, until a certain group of boys entered through the academy doors.

"Sorry we're late," Neji apologized for them all as they walked in.

The three girls heads swung to look at the guys. They noticed the guy's faces were looking drooped and…angry? Even Naruto, Hinata had noticed. The girls looked at one another sternly, knowing something was up.

The boys looked at the girls too, though they waiting until the girls had turned their attention away from them. Obviously, they were there and well, but…

_Ino, _Shikamaru thought angrily. _She's not…where is she? I swear if it's because…_

"Hello there, boys!" Kakashi welcomed them, stepping out of the sea of nieces to greet the boys. "Can't wait to get down to business!"

"Likewise," said Sasuke, giving a simple nod back.

Sakura analyzed the situation as it was. So far, no contact or communication between the nieces and the guys. What did that mean?

"Well, I must say," said Kakashi, silencing all the girls and guys as he announced this. "You guys brought this place a long way in only a matter of hours!" he gestured towards the academy cafeteria and it's many features and embellishments, adorned by none other than the teens. "But two features remain unfinished," he reminded them.

"Do tell," Shikamaru said to himself, pretending the answer interested him more than anything.

"The dance floor plans and the Holiday Hallway! Woohoo!!!" Kakashi chanted, pumping a fist in the air.

The nieces of course cheered and smiled in their suck up ways, while the rest of them remained silent. Upon noticing the silent teens, Kakashi sheepishly lowered his fist and cleared his throat.

"Anyway," he said, moving on from the un-Kakashi-like action. "We'll be working on those two features today and then hopefully-wait a second…" Kakashi looked at the girls.

"Yeah?" Tenten asked him.

"Where's Ino?" He asked them curiously. Sakura sighed. _About time he noticed. _

The boys turned to look at the girls also, just as interested to hear the explanation…although they had a pretty good feeling already what it was.

"She…" Sakura's eyes darted fro a good lie she could come up with.

Sakura's imagination, or what she wished she could say/do just then… 

"_IT WAS THOSE BITCHES WHO POISONED HER FOOD!" Sakura thrust a finger at the flabbergast looking nieces and pounced at Clarissa. Tenten did the same to Courtney, and as did Hinata to Mollie. _

_Sakura started tearing at Clarissa's hair until she looked up at Whitney._

"_YOU really deserve this actually…" she dropped Clarissa's hair and instead jumped at Whitney, tugging at her angel hair._

_Hinata was biting Mollie, for lack of better fighting tactics lets say._

_You can only imagine what Tenten was doing to Courtney._

_And the guys were beside them, cheering them on as they…_

"Well?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura snapped back into reality, frowning upon her unreal fantasy. _If only…_she thought to herself.

"…She got sick," Sakura told him quietly, which technically wasn't a lie. It was just not telling him the whole story

This made the guys eyebrows raise. _Sick, huh?_

"Very sick," she added, sending a sharp look in the niece's direction. She could have actually brought her fantasy to life upon seeing their lips curve into a wicked smile. Of course, this went by unnoticed by Kakashi.

But not by the boys. Oh, boy did it not. The boys looked at the nieces' bloodcurdling grins and immediately saw them for what they really were.

"Ooh, that's too bad," said Kakashi, cringing in remorse for Ino. "But I'm afraid we have to begin now," he said, glancing at the clock.

"Of course," Sakura nodded, allowing him to continue.

"Well," Kakashi said, heaving a cart out from a nearby closet. "I hand picked some of these disks…" he pulled out a box of popular albums. The teens gathered around to look at them.

"Beyonce, Kanye West, Ludacris, Gnarls Barkley, Pussycat Dolls, Nelly Furtado…and you hand picked these?" Naruto asked Kakashi with a raised brow, knowing that Kakashi wouldn't have a clue about pop culture if it slapped him in the face.

Kakashi went red and scratched the back of his neck.

"Ah fine, you got me, a friend of mine works at a radio station and I told him about the cause. He looked at the billboard charts, and well, this is the stuff he recommended," Kakashi admitted as the teens rummaged through the box. "Eh!" he said, slapping some hands away. "Don't mess them all up yet! Go take them over to the dance floor and look them over there," he advised them, pointing to the dance floor.

Nodding, they took the box and walked to the dance floor.

With Ino… 

Ino sat back against the headboard of the fluffy bed, her mind wandering off. She wondered what her friends were doing just then.

But most of all, she wondered what Shikamaru was doing…and with whom.

Just thinking about Whitney made her feel even worse. It made her feel like-

Ino began to cough again uncontrollably. _Oh God, _she thought as she sat up, holding her throat gently, hoping to soothe it. She didn't want this happening right then…particularly because Sakura wasn't there to heal her if this got too out of control.

Which it began to feel like it was.

Ino was now sitting on her knees as she coughed. It began to feel like her throat had scabs in it that were being cruelly peeled from their wounds.

The fact that one cough spat blood out in a streamline on the sheets added to that.

_Oh my…_Ino's arm scrambled around the bedside table for her cell. _Sorry, guys, _she thought with remorse. _But I need you._

The walk felt unbearably long for the girls. Guess why?

"Hey Shika!" Whitney squealed, resting her weight on Shikamaru's shoulder as they walked. Shikamaru didn't look at her. "I'm so excited for-"

"Get off me," Shikamaru said plainly, shrugging her hands off his shoulder. Whitney looked at him as if he had done something as drastic as bitten her.

"What did you just say to me?" She asked him, a disgusted look on her face.

"What, are you illiterate? Get…off…me." Shikamaru stopped to tell her this, his eyes now boring holes into hers.

This made the rest of them stop as well to watch the drama between the two.

"How rude!" Mollie defended her sister with a wag of her index finger at Shikamaru. Shika just rolled his eyes.

Sakura looked at Tenten. Was Shikamaru blowing Whitney off?

"Rude?" Shikamaru asked Mollie, his eyes narrowing as he took a threatening step forward. "Do you really want to lecture me right now about what's 'rude'?"

Courtney stepped in front of Mollie, as if shielding her from Shikamaru.

"Such empty words for one lazy bum," she said, shaking her head. "Do you have anything to back it up?"

Shikamaru was ready to open his mouth when Neji stepped in for him.

"Laxatives," was all he needed to say to make the nieces shut up and go immediately pale.

"Those were _laxatives?" _Tenten raged at the nieces. She knew they were some sort of food poisoning, but laxatives?

Sakura looked at them furiously.

Noticing they were beat at their own game, the nieces looked up at them with dark looks.

"So, you found out, huh?" Whitney asked, tapping her foot. "For record timing, I commend you. Not any other person has found out that fast when we do that," she said wickedly as she pretended to applaud the seven.

"Oh, so you've done this before???" Hinata asked them, her voice high-pitched and angry. The nieces simply looked down at her with mock adoration.

"Oh, we've got a smart one here, girls!" Courtney said to her sisters regarding the red Hinata. "You know shorty, I've never noticed it before, but you're not half bad looking! With just a few makeovers and some years under your bra, you could become quite the looker!" She flicked Hinata in the forehead.

That is, until a finger seized the hand that flicked her.

"Don't ever touch Hinata," Naruto's voice said in its deathly tone to Courtney. "Ever," he said, tightening his grip. Courtney yanked free seized her hand back.

"How dare you lay a hand on me you filth!" She fumed at him, stroking her hand as if it were porcelain Naruto was about to break.

"I think we're beginning to realize who the real filth is here," Sasuke spoke over the fumes, his voice canceling out everyone else's in its low, impenetrable flow.

"You're the reason Ino's not here," Sakura stomped at the nieces. "Whatever was in those little laxatives you carry with you, it's tearing away at her throat!" She almost screamed this at the nieces. However, they were unaffected.

"Oh?" Clarissa asked, a hand over her mouth in surprise. "Well, that was indeed what we were aiming for, right ladies?"

Clarissa didn't get to see or hear any assurance from her sisters, as she was then on the ground, clutching her face. Sakura had hit her.

"Why you little-"

"Don't lay a finger on her…" Sasuke warned Clarissa, as she was about to get up to strike back at Sakura. "Slut." He added. Clarissa's mouth dropped open. Sasuke motioned Sakura to come with as he walked away from Clarissa.

"Where'd you learn to hit like that?" he whispered in Sakura's ear as they walked away.

"Just…practice."

Naruto had one last thing to say to Mollie.

"Oh yeah," Naruto said to Mollie, turning to face her. "You suck at basketball."

Mollie stamped one of her small feet. "Yeah, well you're no Shaq either!"

"Yeah, well," Naruto shrugged and walked over to Hinata. "At least I have better taste in girls then I did yesterday."

Mollie was left speechless as Naruto's arm slipped around the now blushing madly Hinata's waist, and left.

Now, it as Neji's turn to make his move.

"You know," Neji said to Courtney, tapping his chin. "Before, I never really believed in Tarot card readings. Thought they were always a load of crap read by load of crap people. But I changed my mind on one thing…"

So far, Courtney was taking this as a compliment. Oh, little did she know.

"I don't think Tarot card readings are a load of crap anymore," he said, glancing at Tenten. Tenten then recalled the past readings of each of their cards.

_Gemini: You will accomplish something significant and find love by the holidays…_

_Pisces: Your destiny pair is with…a Gemini_

"But," he added. "I still think they're read by load of crap people. Have a nice day, Courtney. Maybe if you're lucky, Santa will bring you a crystal ball and a headscarf for Christmas," he said to Courtney.

After that, Tenten felt Neji's hand around her wrist, gently pulling her with him away from Courtney. Tenten smiled. _Neji, _she sighed in her head. _You're so back._

Shikamaru looked Whitney up and down. She definitely wasn't the girl he thought she was.

"Sad," he said sympathetically. "When a girl feels so lowly about herself that she needs to step so far as to put laxatives in another girl's food just to feel a sense of accomplishment." He walked by her, sure not to brush so much as a strand of her hair as he did.

"Don't worry," he said as he walked. "There are shrinks for that kind of stuff."

And with just that, the nieces were officially blown off

As they stood, an anvil fell out of nowhere squashing them all.

Naw, that was just Sakura's imagination running amok again. But seeing the guys dismiss them the way they did was enough to provide the girls with just as much satisfaction.

As the girls and guys walked to the dance floor, the girls couldn't take their eyes off the guys.

"So," Sakura said casually. "What changed your minds?"

They all knew what she meant, she didn't have to explain it.

"We saw what they put in you guys' food," Naruto said. "Or rather, _Neji _saw it," he added, glancing at Neji who gave a nod.

"Yep," Neji agreed, looking through the assorted CDs, obviously none being able to peak his interest at the least. "That pretty much sealed the deal."

"Oh, well…" Tenten was too much at a loss for words to reply to the recent events. "Ah," she said simply, feeling like an idiot.

Suddenly, Sakura's cell phone began to ring loudly. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at her friends.

"Ino," she whispered, digging through her purse for her phone. She pulled it out and flipped it open. All went silent around her.

"Ino, what's up?" She asked sternly. She waited for the response and her eyes widened as she listened to whatever was being said on the other end. "Shit…" she said, her jaw setting. "Ok, just keep calm, we're on our way," she assured the apparently hysterical Ino. "See you in a few." She shut her phone.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked in concern. Sakura put her phone away and looked up at them, biting her lip.

"It's Ino," she said. "Her throat's gotten worse. She's…she's spewing blood everywhere! I think I even heard it!" Sakura grew more intense as she explained it. "Oh god, she sounded horrible…we've got to get over there right now guys," she said to her friends, hitching her head at the door.

"Right," Tenten nodded, taking no time to head towards the door. Hinata followed along close behind as the three reached the door. Then finally, they looked behind them to see…the boys coming with?

"You're coming too?" Tenten asked confusedly, holding the door open still.

"Duh!" Said Naruto, strolling out the door without hesitation. "Ino's spilling blood all over the place! You think we're gonna hang around this place?"

The girls just looked at each other and grinned as the rest of the boys walked through the doors. They shrugged and followed.

While they were walking out they bumped into Kakashi.

"Hey, whoa, where are you guys going?" he stopped them, setting down the large box in his hands.

"Ino's doing worse," Sakura explained to him. "She really needs us right now."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand," he said. Then he looked at the guys. "What's your excuse?"

The guys all looked at each other.

"Same goes for us," said Shikamaru. A meaningful pause followed, and Kakashi stepped aside.

"…Right. I'm not quite sure what you mean, but just go. Anko and I will finish up here," he said, gesturing down the snowy sidewalk.

The teens smiled and began running, regardless of the ice.

"Thanks Kakashi!" Tenten yelled to Kakashi as she ran. "We owe you one!"

Kakashi looked into the academy, full of his four ready-to-kill-someone nieces. He sighed.

"Damn straight."

**Hope you like it so far…I just wanted to say happy 8th night of Hanukkah to all Jewish readers! And to Christian readers, ONLY THREE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS! And for all other religions, god bless, can't wait! Keep looking for the next chapter! See you guys!**


	15. The Miracle

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took a bit of awhile, but I hope you like it. It's got a lot of climax. Just read and see! I hope you guys like it!**

Chapter 15:

The Miracle

Sakura and the rest of the gang slid to a stop at Sakura's front door as Sakura pulled out her key ring and began flipping keys over and over to get to her house key.

"Please be all right, Ino," she mumbled as she got her finger on the right key, inserting it into the lock.

She unlocked the door and swung it open. All seven of them flooded in in almost no time, closing the door behind them with much effort due to the gusting wind and snow.

"Wow," said Sasuke after succeeding in getting the door completely shut. "Nice house."

"You think so?" Sakura asked with a smile before remembering what they were doing there in the first place. "I mean, thanks. Come on," she said, gesturing them to come, her voice turning stern.

"What's tearing at her throat anyway?" Naruto asked as they walked down the stretch of hallway.

"We were hoping you could tell us that," said Tenten. "You did analyze the sample and all that jazz," she reminded them. They all looked at Neji expectantly. Neji looked away.

"Well, I'm not going to lie and say that what I found is a friendly infestation," he admitted through his teeth, which alone indicated that whatever he was going to say next would not be to good favor. "But the reality is…" he glanced at Sakura who was eagerly awaiting his explanation. "It's a lot more serious than I thought. From what I saw, good cells were being devoured by bad ones, but I was under the impression that that simply indicated sickness…not actual eating away at the throat."

"So, what do we do?" Hinata asked as they arrived at the door. Neji put his hand on the knob and looked at her.

"Remember that time when Hanabi's friend went bulimic?" Neji asked this as if it were a casual question, which surprised the other two girls.

"Yes…" Hinata nodded as the horrifying memories came back to her.

"Remember how we cured that?"

This really struck something in the girls' ears now. _We?_

"Yeah, but I don't think-"

"We should at least try."

Hinata closed her mouth, not willing to argue with what her cousin said would be best for her best friend.

"We can try," she nodded. "But Neji, I'm telling you it's not going to work…"

"Just get on with whatever it is!" Shikamaru butt in, his patience growing thin with the two Hyuugas.

"Right," Neji nodded in apology as he turned the doorknob. When he opened the door fully, the teens were nearly torn apart to see what they saw.

"Oh my…" Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth while Tenten laces her fingers through her hair. Hinata covered her eyes.

The guys on the other hand, couldn't tear their eyes away. They doubted their eyes.

Ino was lying on the floor motionless, blood dripping out of her mouth forming a puddle on the floor.

"Ino!" Shikamaru ran to her and dropped to his knees beside her. The rest of the teens gathered round her as well.

"Is she…? Check her pulse!" Demanded Tenten, dropping down to do it herself. She took Ino's wrist and put her two fingers against the veined section.

"There's a heartbeat," she said in relief. "But it's very faint," she added, her voice dripping with concern.

"No frickin way," Naruto shook his head as he looked down at Ino. "All because of those…bitches!" He punched the wall beside him, forming a dent.

"You're so paying for that when my parents get home," Sakura sighed, though not turning her attention away from Ino. She went to a nearby drawer and pulled out some medical dabs. She returned and started dabbing blood off Ino's mouth.

"Well?" Shikamaru yanked his head around frantically at Sakura. "You're the medic! What are you going to do to help her??"

Sakura didn't meet his eyes. She just closed them and continued dabbing, as if she didn't hear the question at all.

"Sakura, god dammit!" He seized Sakura by the shoulders and practically shook her. "Can't you see the state she's in? Are you BLIND?" His grip on her shoulders tightened, causing her to cringe.

Noticing this, Sasuke tapped Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Hey man, cool down, she's doing the best she can," he reasoned with Shikamaru, his face expressionless in the given situation, but his voice containing obvious hints of worry.

Shikamaru then closed his eyes upon hearing this, and gently loosened his grip on the still shocked Sakura. He let her shoulders go.

"I…I'm sorry," he said, looking down at Ino, though he dreaded what he saw. "I'm just…" he looked through the outskirts of his mind to describe what he 'just' was, but nothing picked up on his radar screen.

Sakura's face turned to a slight, knowing smile. She knew what Shikamaru meant…even if he himself didn't know just then.

But then she realized she needed to get back to business.

"This is beyond my area of expertise," she admitted. "Remember, guys?" she asked this to Tenten and Hinata. "My parents haven't trained me with internal injuries yet."

"Of all the times for them to be out of town," Tenten groaned, resting her head on the wall beside her.

They all mulled over in their minds quickly what exactly they were to do. And fast.

Shikamaru placed his hands in his tactical thinking position, seeing as it felt like the right time to be thinking three steps ahead.

After musing, his mind pointed at one thing.

And truth be told, it was a pretty obvious thing.

"The hospital," Shikamaru said, picking up Ino bridal style, an arm under the backs of her knees and the other under her upper back. "I know the place is tacky and takes a while, but we don't have much choice." He walked to the door and looked back at his friends. "Do we?" He looked mainly at Neji.

"You're right," Neji agreed. "We'll put our theory into practice there…" He looked at Hinata sternly.

"I guess…yeah," Hinata nodded, though her tone showed a smidgen of doubt. _I just don't think it will work out the same way._

"Let's get going already, people!" Naruto said, bouncing to the door, gesturing his hands in an outward motion. "The sooner the better!"

Seeing as Naruto was right, the teens flooded out the door.

Ironically enough, all but Shikamaru.

"Hey," he said, grabbing Naruto's sleeve. Naruto stopped and turned around. "Take Ino for a few minutes, ok?" he handed the perplexed Naruto Ino carefully.

"Dude…" Naruto started to say.

"I need to go check on something," Shikamaru said before turning away to go back into the room, not bothering to offer a more sufficient explanation. Naruto just stared after him.

"Alrighty then," he nodded, a raised eyebrow of confusion.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called from the front door. "Is the brain tumor of yours taking full effect right now? We need to go!"

Naruto's head snapped back up and he turned around.

"Coming!" he called back, before racing to and out the front door.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Tenten asked, looking back at the house as they walked.

"He said he needed to check on something," Naruto shrugged as Sakura started to call for a taxi.

"Taxi!" She hitched her thumb in the air, but the taxis flew by as if they didn't notice her. And believe me, pink haired girls are hard to go by unnoticed.

"TAXI!" whoosh. Another flies by. "Dammit taxis, this is a frickin EMERGENCY!" She continued calling.

"Ah…" Tenten said in regards to Naruto as her mind wandered off. _What would there be to check on in that house?_

_In the house…_

Shikamaru stepped back into the room Ino had been found in.

He stepped around the blood puddle that almost made him feel sick and looked down at the object that had been next to Ino's hopefully merely unconscious body.

It was some kind of book.

He looked around and picked it up, looking down at the cover. No title.

Would it be so much of an invasion if I just… 

Shikamaru at that point couldn't control his manners. His hand felt like it automatically flipped the cover of it open. He sighed. _Temptation has beaten me once again._

The words that met his eyes on the first page of this book made him bite his lip. The Word _Diary, or Journal-type-thing _were staring back at him.

Um… 

Great. Shikamaru was a compassionate and caring guy- if given the chance to benefit himself at the expense of others, he'd turn it down right away. He'd never hurt a blade of grass in his life, as it served as his cot when he would lie down and watched the clouds. Not even once had he ever killed someone on his missions. Just freaked them out enough to make them withdraw.

But now…Shikamaru felt that the attraction moving from his fingers to the ends of the page was so strong, it was as if it were calling for him to just read.

And yet again, he gave into the temptation.

_With the others…_

"FINALLY!"

At long last, a taxi pulled up along side the curb from which Sakura had been calling. The teens poured in. It was a bigger taxi, so it was enough to fit them all in. They supposed Shikamaru would catch up as soon as he was done doing whatever he was doing.

"Where to?" the driver asked awkwardly as they came in, eyeing the body of Ino in Naruto's arms.

"I love you," breathed Sakura, still grateful for the taxi pulling up after near 300 hundred failed attempts.

"Um…" the driver said, drumming his fingers on the wheel, unsure of how to respond to that.

"The Konoha Hospital," Sasuke cleared up for him.

"And step on it," added Tenten.

"Um…no problemo," the driver tipped his hat and turned to the wheel, zooming off from the curb and down the Konoha streets.

"Ino…" Sakura said worriedly, biting her nails. "Please hang on."

With Shikamaru… 

Shikamaru didn't know what kin fire was lazing in him, but he figured there must have been something that was fueling his need to keep turning page for page.

He felt multiple pangs of remorse as he read.

From what he read…Ino cared about him. The way he cared about her.

But he had waited too long. And now look what happened.

Finally, his heart filled with fever, he turned to the last page.

His eyes nearly filled with tears upon the memory Ino had reenacted onto the page, and the way she described her pain. He felt like stabbing himself then and there.

At long last, he got to the last sentence of the page.

_You were right beside me then Shikamaru…where are you now?_

Now, he felt like twisting the knife too.

_With the others…_

The cab pulled to a stop by the Konoha hospital and the teens all hopped out.

"Thanks a lot!" Tenten said sincerely to the driver as she walked out.

"I love you," Sakura said again, leaving the vehicle and the baffled driver. "Later," she said, waggling her fingers at him. He just nodded slowly before driving off.

"Teenagers…"

The teens carried Ino into the building and to the front desk. The receptionist looked up.

"Can I help you kids?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice, as if she didn't notice the limp and bloody body in Naruto's arms.

"My friend needs help," said Sakura earnestly gesturing towards Ino evidently. "Her throats bleeding nonstop due to laxative infestation, and she needs a hospital bed stat!"

The nurse nodded.

"I see. Wait just a moment." She picked up the clipboard next to her and flipped through the scheduling pages. As she did, her face fell and she tutted. She looked back up at the impatient teens

"I'm sorry dears, but we're stacked solid right now, there was just a car wreck from the ice and-"

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura interrupted, pulling out her medics ID and showing it plainly to the receptionist. "I know you know who my parents are. They're head of the medic department of defense." Sakura hated using this advantage over people, but she felt the time called for it.

The receptionist looked back at the ID and gulped. She looked back down at the schedule.

"Oop! Silly me…I guess we do have one room available. Here, I'll call for a stretcher…"

And within only minutes, Ino was in a room surrounded by nurses.

And by the looks of it, Ino's condition wasn't coming along any better. In fact, by the looks of the nurses faces and Ino's own face, they could tell things were only getting worse.

"Erm…how bout you kids step outside in the waiting rooms while we handle this," one of the nurses advised the teens, practically pushing them out the door.

"But-" Sakura protested, looking over the nurses shoulder as she pushed her out.

"Go," the nurse pushed on, closing the door right away. Sakura just looked back at the door and her head tilted down.

"Holidays can be so overrated," she hissed to herself upon the current events. Then, she felt a hand o her shoulder.

"That's what you think," Sasuke said, handing her a candy cane from the front desk. Sakura meagerly smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. She took the candy cane and twirled it around in her hand.

"Thanks," she said quietly, looking down at the endless red and white motif.

"Hey," Sasuke said, tilting her chin up to make her face him. "Don't let this ruin your holiday. You know Ino more than anyone. She doesn't give up without a fight," he reminded Sakura seriously, as if making her understand this meant the world to him.

"But it's just…I feel like it's my fault. I'm a medic, I shouldn't have left her alone, I could have stopped it before it started, I could have-"

She was silenced by Sasuke's hand.

"The situation was out of your hands from the very start. I know this isn't often what you believe in, but sometimes, you have to accept when things are out of your control. If you keep worrying about them…" Sasuke began to look down at his feet as he said this. His pale face turned reddish too. "You might miss out on what's in front of you."

Sakura looked up at him, feeling as if for the first time in weeks, she was seeing into more than just his navy blue eyes.

"Ironic," she said, smiling. "That the guy hooked on revenge for five years of his life is telling me this."

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek.

"Let's just say…" he looked back into Sakura's eyes with equal intensity. "I speak from experience."

Sakura smiled, knowing what he meant.

"Thank you Sasuke."

* * *

Hinata looked into the boring fish tank that resides in all waiting rooms, filled with the same fish and coral wreathes as the next. Hardly eventful in any way. But for some reason, the way the fish swam and cut through the liquid calmed Hinata in a way that made he current evens that much easier to take in. 

"Sad, huh," Naruto said, coming up next to her. "How fish are confined to that little space."

"Oh, um, yeah," Hinata agreed with a nod. "Very sad."

"It's like they're just bursting to give out their full potential," Naruto went on, despite Hinata's half-hearted participation in the subject. "But can't just because of that little space they have. They can't be where they really want to be, which is the ocean."

Hinata nodded. "Yep," she said. "I see what you mean."

Naruto leaned lightly against the tank. "You ever feel like that?" he asked her, crossing his arms. Hinata looked at him.

"Like what?"

"Like you're being restrained from showing your full capabilities?" he asked her. Hinata looked away from him.

"I…" she began, holding her wrist in nervousness. However, when she looked back at Naruto, she realized anything she said was secure. "Yeah," she said clearly. "I do."

Naruto nodded with a grin. "Wanna know a secret?" he asked her, leaning in.

"Sure," she said, her eyes widening. Naruto's eyes darted around before they locked with Hinata's.

"That's actually how I used to feel everyday," he said in a low whisper.

Hinata felt taken aback. Naruto? Feeling restrained? Since day one, he had been her motivation to keep going, because she felt so inspired by his introverted personality and will to show off his strengths. But upon hearing this…Hinata could hardly believe it.

"You?" she asked nearly speechlessly.

"Yep," Naruto nodded. "But do you know how I changed that?" Hinata gave a shrug in reply. "I swore to myself that I'd never give up hope on anything…or anyone." He looked at Ino's hospital door. "And from that day, it all changed. Will you swear to me that, Hinata?" he asked her seriously.

Hinata cocked her head to the side. "Swear what?"

"That you'll never give up hope on your friends, your family, and more importantly, yourself?"

Hinata paused for a minute as she thought about everything Naruto told her, and immediately, the reasons as to why she respected him so came flooding back to her.

"I promise, Naruto," she said sincerely, looking him in the eye. Naruto grinned back.

"Welcome to he ocean, Hinata."

* * *

Tenten tapped her foot roughly. There was nothing else to do while waiting, so she had no choice but to break down and give in to what boring waiting rooms have to offer. 

Cookbooks and age-old magazines.

She pulled out an issue of _Vogue _(AN: I guess there will be Vogue in this fic too now) and started flipping through the pages, filled with absurd looking styles and ridiculously skinny models to sport them. Each one made her think of the nieces.

"You don't seem like the type to read fashion magazines," a voice next to her said.

She turned her head and looked to see Neji in the chair next to her, peering over her shoulder. His head was so close she was sure she could feel his heat radiating off his face.

"Ah, I'm not!" She said, quickly shutting the _Vogue _and setting it aside embarrassedly. "It's just what I'm reduced to when there's nothing else to do in a waiting room," she explained. Neji looked her in the eye.

"I figured," he said. "I never liked those models in magazines," he said, sitting back in his chair, now looking forward with crossed arms.

"Well, in general, you're not the first," Tenten said, putting her arms around one of her knees. "But it's a refreshing change in terms of guys."

"What do you mean?" Neji asked her curiously. Tenten felt like the question alone caught her off guard.

"Oh, well, guys are usually into the girls in magazines is all," she said, shrugging. "I'm just saying it's cool you're not one of those guys." Tenten was brilliant in the way that she could flirt greatly, but not even realize it. Neji was oblivious in the way that even being a genius, he could not tell when he's flirted with (i.e. Courtney).

"Why are they into them?" Neji asked her, his face wrinkling. "They're so…fake. They lack muscle, decency and most of all reality to them," he explained to Tenten. Tenten nodded. She as so glad there was a guy who realized this. And she as even happier that it was Neji. "I mean, you're not likely to run into someone who looks like _that_ on the street, are you?"

He held up the Vogue and pointed to the person on the cover. Her cheekbones were high; her hair was shiny and glossed, teased up just as high and perfectly. Her eyes were made up and her skin was free of any trace of blemish.

This kind of woman obviously disgusted Neji.

"Can't say I am," Tenten shook her head in regards to Neji's question. For some reason, now that they were on the subject…she wanted to dig just a bit deeper.

"Well, what do you look for in a girl then?" she asked him, pretending to be casual about it. Neji looked rather surprised at this question.

"Well," he began. "Strength," he said first.

Tenten: 1. Vogue models: 0.

"Natural looking appearance," he said next.

Tenten: 2. Vogue models: 0

"Fun personality I guess,"

Tenten: 3. Vogue models: 0

"I don't know, I guess simply someone like…" he looked up at Tenten as the next word failed to escape his mouth.

_Come on, just one more point…_Tenten pleaded to herself in her head, wanting to hear the answer more than anything…

"Sorry I'm late," a voice interrupted Tenten's thoughts. She looked up to see none other than Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru," Sasuke walked over to him. "What took you? They're not letting us see Ino…she's under some heavy treatment," he said, gesturing towards the door.

"Traffic," Shikamaru lied, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the floor.

"Ah," said Sasuke, nodding. Now, the rest of them walked over to Shikamaru.

"It's about time," said Tenten. "Ino's under some heavy-"

"I heard," said Shikamaru painfully, looking at Sasuke.

"Right, sorry," said Tenten.

"So, what is it?" Sikamaru asked Neji, breaking the awkward silence that had happened previously.

"What's what?" Neji asked confusedly.

"The tactic you and Hinata were talking about? What is it."

The rest of them looked at the two Hyuugas now.

"That's right," Sakura said, looking at Hinata. "You guys said something about Hanabi's friends being bulimic or something?"

Hinata looked at Neji, as if asking for permission to tell the tale. Neji nodded, and Hinata took a breath in.

"Ok…so Hanabi's best friend Moegi went bulimic as you know," she began.

"Moegi???" Naruto interrupted in a shocked voice. "She went bulimic? When?"

"That doesn't matter right now, Naruto," said Sasuke, bonking Naruto on the head. Hinata continued.

"So anyway, it got the point where it was so serious she needed hospitalization. Her symptoms were much like Ino's due to the high laxative intake she had. When all hope felt lost, like I guess is what's happening now…" Hinata looked around at all of her worried friends. "Hanabi remembered that Moegi had this huge crush on Konohamaru since they met," she explained. "So one day, she sent in Konohamaru to talk to her while she was in treatment. For some odd reason, after the talk the two had, Moegi felt better within hours. It was almost like, I dunno, a…"

"A miracle?" Shikamaru offered. Hinata nodded.

"Exactly. Now, I don't know if miracles can repeat themselves, but like Neji said, it's always worth the try, and who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky. So we were thinking…maybe we should do the same for Ino?" She suggested, looking at everyone for approval. They all looked at each other and nodded.

"Sounds like a good idea," said Tenten. "Except they're not taking any visitors, remember?"

Upon this reminder, Sakura perked right up.

"Oh, that will change, don't worry," Sakura said, pulling out her medic ID and papers. "Trust me, from earlier experience, this stuff has more of a surprising effect on the people in this place then you'd think," she said, showing them the papers. "Believe me," she assured them. "People in the world of medics step aside for the Harunos."

"Wow, you're really that good?" asked Naruto.

"Who, me?" Sakura asked. "Gosh no! I mean my parents," she said. They all nodded.

"Alright," said Neji. "So we've got our in sorted out. Now…who's to go in?"

This sent them into a thoughtful silence, although in the end, the answer would be quite obvious.

"I'll go," said Shikamaru. They all turned to him.

"Yeah," agreed Sakura. "Out of everyone here…I think Shikamaru is the most fit to go."

They all nodded and shrugged and many "Sure"s and "fine by me"s were said.

Sakura then turned to Shikamaru as she handed him her ID and papers.

"Just tell them you're with the Haruno Medic squad," she explained to him. "And they'll be sure to let you in. Now, after you are in…" she lowered her voice. "Be careful with her right now. Her emotions are very…fragile due to recent events."

"I know," Shikamaru said with remorse as he looked at the ground. The journal entry wrung through his head.

"You do?" Sakura asked him curiously. Shikamaru snapped his head back up.

"I mean, I do now!" he said. Sakura just wrinkled her brow as Shikamaru began to slink closer to the door. "Thanks for the advice," he said. "Wish me luck."

He entered the room. Sakura sighed.

"You have no idea how much," she said to herself.

In the room… 

Shikamaru walked into the nurse-filled room. He couldn't see Ino because her bed was too surrounded.

"Hey," he said, getting the nurses' attention. "I'm with the Haruno Medic squad," he said, echoing the lines Sakura told him, holding up the papers. "I'd like a moment alone with Miss Yamanaka."

The nurses all looked at him.

"But you're a child," one of them said, lowering her mouth mask.

"Teenager," he corrected her, trying to hook his vision around so he could see Ino more clearly.

"Right," she said. "Well, I guess if you're with the Haruno medics, we have no choice but to obey," she sighed, obviously annoyed that she had to obey a sixteen-year-old boy.

"Thank you," Shikamaru said as they gathered up their materials.

"Yeah, yeah," one of them said as they exited the room. Shikamaru made sure they were gone and turned his head toward Ino.

The sight was not nearly as unbearable to take as it had been a few hours ago. The blood was wiped away, her body's position was more natural, and her face wasn't tensed.

But something still was missing. Something that completed Ino.

She wasn't smiling…she wasn't laughing. She wasn't conscious.

But with a few words, he hoped to change that.

He pulled up a stool by the bed and sat on it.

"Hey, Ino," he said, putting his hand over hers. "I know you probably can't here me right now…and even if you had the option to, you probably would choose not to. I wouldn't blame you…" he looked guiltily at Ino's paler than normal face. "Look, I made perhaps what was the biggest mistake I have ever made in the past few days," he admitted to the unconscious Ino. "I just wanted to let you know, Whitney means nothing to me and never will. The truth is, the whole reason I agreed to come home to Konoha was to see you again. I wasn't looking forward to the food, the aura, or even the big fluffy clouds you only see in Konoha- I was looking forward to hearing your laugh, seeing your smile, and looking into the blue eyes I hadn't seen for a years or so going on two. But now, because of something that was partially my fault, I can't experience an of those." He kept his eyes locked on to Ino's lids, as if he were awaiting them to flick open at any second. "Well, I just wanted to say I do care about you Ino…and I want you to forgive me. I don't care what I have to do to make you forgive me. Just please Ino…" He squeezed her hand tighter. "Don't leave me. Don't leave _us." _

Shikamaru fell silent as he looked at Ino's face. It remained the same. No stir whatsoever.

He sighed and took something out of his bag and set it next to Ino. It was her diary.

"It was worth a try," he said to himself, turning to walk out the door.

Just as he was about to turn the knob, he heard something.

"You won't have to worry," he heard the sweet, familiar voice from behind him. "I'm not leaving anyone."

Shikamaru turned around slowly. He saw the Ino he had remembered. The cheerful blond he always knew. Well, maybe just a bit more tired and worn out looking than the Ino he always knew, but it didn't matter…

She was ok.

"Ino!" he said, running to the bed and throwing his arms around the frail girl just to make sure it wasn't his imagination deceiving him.

"Shikamaru," she said into his chest. "Did you…really mean all that?" she asked him. Shikamaru pulled away.

"Every word of it," he said. Ino smiled.

"I'm glad…" she said. She looked in her diary and turned to the last page.

She looked at her last entry. Something had been added on to it.

_You were right beside me then…Where are you now_

She looked at the scruffier, masculine handwriting that followed.

_I still am right beside you…_

She flipped the page.

_And always will be. _

Ino looked up at Shikamaru, her heart pounded harder and harder by the second.

"Shikamaru!" she cried, flinging herself at him again. "Thank you so much."

Shikamaru grinned as she released. But after she did, she gave him a light slap across the face.

"That's for reading my diary," she scolded him, an evil grin on her face. Shikamaru put his hand o his cheek.

"I guess I deserved that…" he pondered.

All of a sudden, they heard the door fling open, spilling out the other teens followed by the nurse from before.

"We thought we heard a yell- Oh my god…" Tenten was speechless as to what she saw.

"I can't believe it worked…" gasped Hinata.

"Incredible," said the nurse, her eyes wide as she checked the machine checking Ino's heart rate and bloodstream. "Her health as restored nearly to complete normal! I don't know if you're some Rasputin healer or what kid, but if this isn't a miracle, I have no idea what is," the nurse said.

Tenten and Neji looked at each other.

"I think it's definitely a miracle," said Neji, smiling as he nudged Tenten. Tenten grinned back.

"What did I tell you guys, huh?" Tenten said. "Miracles do happen."

* * *

Later that night, the girls were in their beds, thinking about the day that had just passed.

It was like a nightmare and a dream all merged into one.

The classic fairytale almost…

The classic holiday miracle.

The girls fell asleep rather easily that night. After all they needed rest for the Winter Wonderland. Kakashi had left a message on Sakura's machine insisting that they attend. They agreed. They needed a reward after the official Most Bumpy Week of their Lives.

So obviously, they fell asleep fast, eagerly awaiting the events that awaited them the next day.

**Before you say anything, I predict what you all were thinking about this chapter. It was cheesy and was primarily ShikaIno. To make amends for that, I will bump up the other chemistries in the next chapter and lower ShikaIno if you guys want, but I'm afraid the cheese is going to have to be equal. After all, all good romance needs a touch of cheese! Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter. It's two o-clock right now, it took me so long! Anyways, the next chapter may be the last, and it will either be out Christmas Eve or Christmas day, so look out for it! Thanks you guys, it means a lot to me. R and R!**


	16. All I Want For Christmas Is You

**Ok, here's the second to last chapter. Turns out, all the stuff lefts I can't only fit into one, so I'm splitting it up. Hope that's alright! Anyways, please excuse any bad spelling or grammar you come across, as I was up till 3 AM with this, so PLEASE review! Thanks so much everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the song "All I Want For Christmas is You"**

Chapter 16:

All I Want for Christmas is You

The girls spent the next morning sorting out clothing and hair issues for the Winter Wonderland.

Their main motivation to go was obviously the whole dance part. They just hoped Kakashi picked good music. Knowing Anko, she probably took control in that department.

Come evening, the girls all had done their hair, makeup and were dressed for the occasion. They didn't want to overdo it though, as it still stood that it was an elementary event.

"Oh my!" Hinata gasped as Tenten entered the room. "Tenten! You look gorgeous!" She gestured down at Tenten's dress. Yes, dress. It was a dark green Christmassy color (now before you get disgusted, read on) and was strapless. The top hugged her fulling chest and the form fitted the curves that seemed nonexistent before. Her hair was down for the first time, and was side-parted.

"Thanks," Tenten said bashfully, dragging a high-heeled foot around the ground. She wasn't used to being complimented on her clothes, much less her appearance.

"Wow," agreed Sakura, adoring Tenten's outfit. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear a dress Tenten! It looks great!"

"Don't think you're ever going to see me in one again either," Tenten pointed out, tugging the hem of her dress away from the examining Sakura.

"Oh, I wouldn't be saying that," Ino said, wagging a finger at her as she too came to admire Tenten's dress.

"And why not?" Tenten asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because after Neji gets knocked out upon seeing you in this, you're going to want to wear one for the rest of your life," Ino shrugged simply, earning a playful punch from Tenten.

"Please," Tenten said, looking away but blushing. "Like he's even going to care," she mumbled.

"Oh, he will," said Sakura with a wink. Tenten grinned, but recollected the conversation she shared with Neji in the waiting room. _Actually, he won't, _she thought. _Because unlike the typical teenage guy, he doesn't look at me appearance-wise._

"Speaking of dresses," said Ino, changing the subject after seeing Tenten's awkward face. "Look at you, Hinata!" She looked Hinata up and down. "You are vision in navy, I'm telling you," she told her, pretending to be a paparazzi snapping photos of Hinata in her long, sparkly navy blue dress.

"Really? I mean, thank you Ino!" Hinata said with a smile, glad that someone acknowledged her attempt with this girly style that seemed foreign to her.

"She's right," nodded Sakura. "You're the only one of us who could pull it off."

Hinata giggled lightly as she reddened at her friend's compliments.

"Thanks guys," she said, looking at her feet. However, when she was looking down, she noticed something. "I like your shoes, Sakura," she said, feeling she needed to follow suit with the compliment-one-another motif.

Sakura looked down at her hot pink, diamond studded strappy heels.

"Oh, thank you!" she said, doing a small model spin for them.

"Ooh, I like your dress style to," Ino said, nodding in an approval as Sakura struck a mock pose in her soft pink halter dress. "God, I envy your ass…" Ino turned around and looked at her own rear in the mirror.

Sakura laughed. "Why?" She asked Ino.

"Because you have one," Ino sighed, patting her own flat butt. Sakura laughed hysterically.

"At least you've got boobs," Sakura reminded her with a sigh, as she tried to increase her bust by sucking in. Unfortunately, not even the support from the halter styled dress did much to add to it.

"Seriously!" Tenten agreed. "See Ino, I keep trying to tell you to take pride in that but you never listen," she said shaking her head. Ino giggled, sending rippled through her flowy light blue dress that stopped at her knees.

"I guess the only person blind to one's good features is the person themselves," Hinata said profoundly. They all looked at her.

"Yeah, you're right," Sakura nodded right away. "That's exactly how it is."

"Yeah, that's good. Where'd you get that quote by the way?" Ino asked her curiously, also effected by Hinata's moving statement. Hinata shrugged.

"I made it up," she said. "I wasn't trying to be poetic or anything. I was just telling things like they are," she explained to them.

They all smiled at her. And that, folks, is why they loved Hinata.

"I see," nodded Tenten, picking up a clutch purse Sakura lent to her. "We should probably be going now," she said, glancing at the kitchen clock. They all looked at the the clock and nodded.

"We should," said Sakura, opening the front door. She stopped after she opened it for her friends. "You know what?" she asked them.

"What?" Ino asked.

"Mission: Steal our guys back worked out after all," she said with a smirk. They all laughed.

Tenten chuckled and patted Sakura's shoulder as they walked down the pathway in the frigid temperature.

"One way or another, it did."

At the academy… 

The girls arrived at the academy at long last. Well, what was once the academy that is. Now, one could hardly tell it was a school. Every nook and cranny was adorned with holiday embellishments of all sorts. Lights of menorahs, Christmas trees, Kwanzaa candles, Chinese and Japanese New Year decorations…and just about every other winter holiday imaginable.

Tenten did a low whistle as they stepped out of the cab. "Wow…Kakashi and Anko sure did do a good job," she said, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Got that right," said Ino as they walked to the entrance, dodging the onslaught of genins running frantically around them.

"This thing really is a hit," mumbled Hinata as they walked through the double doors. "Oof!" as Hinata closed the door, a strand of garland fell onto her head. Her friends helped her weave it out of her navy blue locks.

"I knew I should have taped those better…" Kakashi strode over, looking up at the ceiling nervously, as if ready for another garland to fall from it.

"Kakashi!" Sakura said happily, tossing the garland away once it was free from Hinata's hair. "Great job with all this!" She gestured towards the entire auditorium.

Kakashi pretended to be unaffected.

"Oh, pfft," he tossed his hand. "This old place? Just a few lights and trees and menorahs and…"

"Give it up, Kakashi," Anko came up behind Kakashi, rolling her eyes as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't believe him," she hissed to the girls. "This place took him till four AM to finish up."

Immediately, the girls felt guilty.

"Oh my gosh, four AM Kakashi?" Hinata asked, biting her lip. "We're so sorry, we would have come over to-"

Kakashi stopped her with his hand. "Not at all," he said. "I figured you girls needed to catch a break after withstanding my…" he looked at the ticked off looking Anko. "Erm, well you know," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well, speaking of which," Ino said, looking around. "Where are those girls anyway?"

They all looked at Kakashi, who now had a mischievous grin on his face. Their eyes then shifted to Anko who now also had a grin, which was a first in a while.

"Well," Kakashi said. "I'll just tell you what we did. Yes, we," he said, nudging Anko. "Anko was in on it too. Well, we told the girls they couldn't come tonight. I told them that-"

"KAKASHI WE LOVE YOU!" The four girls clobbered Kakashi with hugs of gratefulness, almost making him fall over. Kakashi gently peeled them off him.

"Yes, well, going on," he cleared his throat. "Between you guys and us, I convinced them to go back to the rain country where they're home is. Told em that Konoha is a sickly place during the holidays…full of Scrooges. Of course, when I told them there was no M.A.C. or Clinique, that's sort of what really did it. Either way, this is pretty much my Christmas present to you girls…" he shook his head and crossed his arms. "So I expect a big gift from you girls! And I'm not just talking shurikens here, I'm talking face masks, hair gel, the works…"

"Err, right we'll be on it," Ino said quickly, stopping Kakashi mid-sentence. "But for now, we really must be going."

"Oh that's right!" Kakashi said, brightening up. "Anko got the music situation worked out. You should really go see the dance floor…it's quite the site! And while you're at it, you're definitely going to want to visit the Holiday Hallway!" Kakashi advised them, so enthusiastic he was bouncing on his ankles.

"Should we right this down?" Sakura laughed. Kakashi sank back down.

"Right, my bad," he said taking a deep breath. "Just…go have fun!" he pushed them off into the auditorium.

"Well, ok…whoa."

The girls gazed into the auditorium. Lights, attractions, music everywhere. And they thought the outside was impressive!

"I never really did give Kakashi enough credit," Sakura said in amazement as they walked through the auditorium. The lighting was low, because the holiday lights provided sufficient lighting.

"Check out the dance floor!" Tenten pointed at the dance floor, which was large and decked out with lights. There was even a DJ.

The girls walked over to the crowded dance floor. Being teenage girls, dancing was their made interest in such an event.

"Aw," said Tenten, marveling at the ten year olds dancing by her. "So cute, watching these little kids dance together…"

"Hey, who you calling little?" A little girl with orange hair who overheard her dropped her hands off and familiar looking boy and turned to face Tenten, hands on her small hips.

"Um, well…wait, Moegi?" Tenten looked closer. "And…Konohamaru?" She looked at the boy she had been dancing with. Moegi instantly blushed.

"Yeah…I mean, what of it?" She snapped at Tenten, crossing her arms.

"Be nice, Moegi," A larger hand fell onto Moegi's shoulder. Tenten followed the arm up to see…Neji.

"Neji!" Tenten said in surprise, looking at Neji. He was dressed up. He was wearing a white button up shirt, a few undone with the sleeves rolled up mid forearm. It was un-tucked from his khaki pants. Tenten thought he never looked hotter.

"Evening Tenten," he nodded a greeting at Tenten, not failing to notice her new sexy style. "You look…" he looked as if he was trying to fight back a blush. "Nice," he said, regaining his Neji composure.

Tenten was looking for a bit more than "nice", but coming from Neji, she felt like she had just been called a goddess.

"Thanks," she said, giving off an award-wining smile. "You do too."

"Thanks," Neji said awkwardly. He looked away from Tenten. Tenten looked away from him. Funny, how they were completely identical in the sense that they could never meet eyes with those they most admired.

"Hey guys!" Naruto bound in, wearing a light blue short sleeved button up with khaki pants light Neji's. "Did Kakashi do a good job or what?" he yelled over the noise.

"Absolutely!" Hinata called back, her high voice just barely heard.

"Sup?" was heard next. Everyone's heads turned again to see Sasuke and Shikamaru. Sasuke's clothes were similar to Neji's but his shirt was gray. Shikamaru was also wearing a white button up, but with black pants.

"Hey," Sakura said to Sasuke, giving him a dazzling smile. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey," he said, giving her a chin-up greeting.

"You feeling better than yesterday, Ino?" Shikamaru asked Ino worriedly, seriousness in his deep brown eyes.

"Loads better," Ino answered, smiling knowingly.

"Good," he said, nodding.

The four just stood there for a few minutes awkwardly as the song "show stopper" came to an end.

What happened next launched the next events.

The song "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey came on.

_I don't want a lot for Christmas…_

_There is just one thing I need…_

_I don't care about the presents…_

_Underneath the Christmas tree…_

The girls all looked at each other with wide eyes before squealing. The guys covered their ears.

_I just want you for my own…_

_More than you could ever know…_

_Make my wish come true…_

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Naruto asked them, his hands over his ears. The girls calmed down and turned to them.

"This is totally our favorite Christmas song," Tenten explained to them, bouncing to the beat a bit on her ankles. "We've listened to it every Christmas at least once," she said. The girls continued to sway to the beat more as the intro of the song almost finished.

The guys looked at one another knowingly.

"Well," Neji said. "Everyone else is dancing…the song is slow enough…so you think we should…?"

_All I want for Christmas…is you_

"Hey," Sasuke said to Sakura as she and the girls began singing along lightly. Sakura snapped her mouth shut.

"Yeah?" she asked embarrassingly.

"Wanna dance?" he shrugged, motioning towards the center of the dance floor. Sakura felt her knees turn to jelly.

"Sure!" she said, smiled growing on her face as she took Sasuke's outstretched hand. He led her away.

Now, Hinata looked at Naruto.

Naruto beamed and bowed gallantly.

"May I have this dance, milady?" he asked her, wiggling his eyebrows. Hinata laughed.

"Of course you may," she said, curtseying before going off with Naruto.

Shikamaru glanced at Ino and grinned his charmingly lazy grin.

"Do I really have to ask?" he asked her, getting closer as he took her hands to lead her away. Ino smiled back.

"Not at all," she answered as the two took to a more isolated corner of the dance floor.

Neji now held his hand out to Tenten. Having been the one forced to take dance lessons by Hyuuga family command, he knew the proper ediquette that was to be used when asking a lady to dance.

"Shall we?" he asked her smoothly. Tenten grinned back dramatically.

"We shall," she answered back, allowing herself to be taken into his arms.

And from there, each couple fell in tune with the music.

* * *

"So, how has life in the ocean been treating you, Hinata?" Naruto asked Hinata cleverly, swaying to the music. Hinata smiled.

"It's pretty good, actually," she said with a shrug. "You're right, you know," she said, blushing a bit. "Keeping your faith does make you a stronger person. I think in the last 24 hours, I've learned that the hard way," she said with a half grin, recollecting the sight of first seeing Ino sprawled on the ground unconscious.

_I don't need to hang my stocking,_

_There upon the fireplace,_

_Santa Claus won't make me happy,_

_With a toy on Christmas day…_

"Story of my life," said Naruto in an understanding tone, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Learning the hard way," he breathed. Hinata felt deep sorrow for him at that moment. She felt stupid for ever thinking she had ever learned the hard way in contrast to Naruto.

_I just want you for my own,_

_More than you could ever know,_

_Make my wish come true…_

"I'm so sorry," she said lightly. "It's not fair is it?" she asked. Naruto knew she was regarding his painful past.

"No, it's not," he said, shaking his head. He looked up so his eyes met hers. "But those difficulties are what made me who I am today. They've made me stronger and more independent than I would have been without them. And for that…I guess I'm grateful." He gave her a half grin as she got closer with him.

"I am too," she said sincerely to him. "But not just because of those difficulties," she told him slowly, unsure of her next action.

"What else?" Naruto asked her, his eyes turning wide and filled with curiosity.

Just then, Hinata planted a big kiss on Naruto's lips. Naruto as surprised at first, but kissed her back. When they finally broke apart after what felt like forever, they were both dazed. Hinata decided to break the silence.

"I'm grateful for you, Naruto."

_Baby, all I want for Christmas is you._

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke swayed faster to the beat of the music.

_I won't ask for much this Christmas,_

_I don't even wish for snow._

_I'm just gonna keep on waiting,_

_Underneath the mistletoe. _

"You know, I thought it as really…cool how you took so much initiative with what happened to Ino," he told her honestly, his hands shifting on her hips. Having not had much dancing experience before in his life, he had little idea of whether girls got more offended with their hands too high or too low on their sides. So he just kept them around hip bone height, hoping that it was the something in between.

Sakura shrugged in response.

"How could I not? She's my best friend," she told him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Wow," he said. "Funny how you guys reconciled so easily. I remember when you two used to hate each other's guts," he said, remembering back to the chuunin exams. They were always so catty with one another, but still had their moments, though neither one wanted to be caught being kind to the other.

"Yeah," said Sakura. "Well, feminine friendships are always confusing," she told him, rolling her eyes in an I-don't-even-know-where-to-being way.

"You're telling me," Sasuke said. "What were you guys even fighting about in the first place?"

Sakura froze. She remembered. Back when she and Ino had been fighting over Sasuke to win his affections, pretty much everyone was aware of this except…well, Sasuke.

Sakura was caught in her words at the moment. What should she tell him?

The next thing she knew, Sakura couldn't hold her tongue any longer. The music was too flowing, the dance floor was too active, and Sasuke was too damn hott. She couldn't take anymore time to think.

"We were fighting over you," she blurted, looking away quickly, not wanting to see Sasuke's expression to this. She waiting for him to pull away from her and run, but he didn't. Instead, he said something to her.

"And?"

Sakura looked at him. He didn't look negatively affected or positively affected. Sakura didn't know what to make of it.

"Well," she said. "Ino sort of gave up on it."

Sasuke nodded. "And…what about you?" he asked her, very interesting in hearing the answer to this question.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Did you give up on it?"

_I won't make a list and send it_

_To the north pole for Saint Nick_

_I won't even stay awake to_

_Hear those magic reindeer click._

Sakura looked up into Sasuke's eyes. They were like charcoal staring back at her. Or that's what she once thought. But now, she thought she could finally see the humanly Sasuke she had been kidding herself to see since she laid eyes on him. She finally saw the Sasuke within him that showed passion.

This is was egged Sakura on to make her next move.

Which happened to be what most people know as "the first move."

Cause I just want you hear tonight Holding on to me so tight 

_What more can I do…_

She slowly sank her lips into Sasuke's. This kiss wasn't like Hinata and Naruto's. There's was fast, and dare I say a bit rough on Naruto's part. This one was short and sweet.

When Sakura pulled back, she felt Sasuke's question had been answered simply with that action. But she chose to say it anyway.

"No, I didn't."

_Baby, all I want for Christmas is you…_

* * *

Shikamaru looked down at Ino with concern, as if he was prepared to see her run out at any moment, choking up blood like she was in the nightmare of the day before.

"You sure you're ok?" he asked her.

"Yes, for the fiftieth time, I'm sure Shikamaru," Ino sighed, though smiling at his concern.

"No blood in the throat?"

"Nope."

"No scabs?"

"Nope."

"No coughing?"

"Nope."

"No hospital visits?"

"Nope."

"No Christmas cheer?"

"Nope. I mean- gah, very funny…" Ino said, eyeing him evilly. He chuckled at her reaction.

"Sorry," he said. "It's just that I had to break the everlasting string of 'nope's." Ino laughed too now.

"Oh, so that's it," she said. Shikamaru nodded as he pulled Ino in closer, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder.

_All the lights are shining_

_So brightly everywhere,_

_And the sound of children's laughter fills the air._

_And everyone singing_

I hear those sleigh bells ringing… 

"So," he said casually. "Do…you really want to see if my abbs are chiseled?"

Ino's mouth fell open as she yanked her head up off his shoulder.

"What are you….oh my god…! You read that in my diary didn't you?!!!" She said shockingly. Shikamaru couldn't suppress a grin.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't…" he said, starting to whistle obliviously. Ino play slapped him.

"But seriously-"

"Well, do you or not?"

Ino was baffled by this question.

"Do I what?" she asked. Shikamaru let loose his hold on her hips and took a step back.

"See if my abbs are chiseled?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Ino blushed madly.

_Well, _she thought. _There's no use denying it…the proofs fresh in the diary. And he's read that._

"Yes," she said honestly, eyeing his stomach area. Shikamaru grinned a sexy grin as he took a step closer.

"Then go ahead," he said.

To Ino's surprise, he lifted up his shirt to reveal the most chiseled abbs Ino had ever seen. She felt like drooling.

Oh my…I knew it!!! I so knew it!!! 

Ino, not thinking properly at that moment, reached out to touch them. Just as she thought. Hard as rocks.

Shikamaru then shut his shirt over his ripped six pack, grinning at Ino.

"Satisfied?"

"Ooh yes," Ino said seductively. Then a thought struck her. "Tell me, how does a lazy bum like you get a six pack like that?"

Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling, something he tended to do when thinking hard about something.

"Well…just back in Suna, I had lots of opportunities to go to the gym, and I will admit, under the influence of Uchiha, I visited it frequently, so consequently…" he lifted his shirt again to reveal his abbs. Ino could have died for the second time. "This is what resulted."

Ino smiled and nodded her head caringly as her arms took around Shikamaru's neck once more.

"I get it," she said with a nod. "But," she added. Shikamaru looked confusedly at her. _But what?_

_Santa won't you bring me the one I really need…_

"You may be unbearably ripped and one in this department," Ino poked his rock solid stomach. Then, her hand slowly traveled up to his heart. "But here…you'll always be Shikamaru Nara, the lazy bum I've always known."

Shikamaru's grin could not have been any bigger than it was then.

_Won't you please bring my baby to me._

* * *

Neji was a surprisingly good dancer.

See, one wouldn't know this at first, sight, but dang, he was good!

He knew the waltz, tango, foxtrot, everything. Tenten's heart felt like it as flying whenever he dipped her, which he surprisingly did frequently.

_I guess he liked this dress more than he let on, _Tenten thought mischievously.

Neji twirled her.

"Wow," Tenten remarked. "I didn't know you were such a good dancer, young Mr Hyuuga," she said in a mature voice. Neji turned slightly red.

"Blame my uncle," he sighed as he worked his fancy footwork. "I had lessons with this stuff three times every week. Go figure," he told her, as if he dreaded the memory.

_Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas_

_This is all I'm asking for_

_I just want to see my baby_

_Standing right outside my door…_

"Well I think that's kind of cool actually," she said with a shrug. Neji looked down at her oddly.

"Really," he said in more of a statement than a question. "That's weird. Girls…often don't take interest in men who are skilled when it comes to dancing."

"Just like most guys don't take interest in girls who aren't exactly _Vogue_ models," Tenten pointed out in regards to the waiting room event from the day before.

This struck something within Neji. Something he hadn't felt since before he was burdened with his mark. Something he feared loosing all familiarity with. But now…Tenten had saved it.

"Well," Neji said. "I guess we're alike in more ways than we thought before."

Neji began to lean in, before he could even process what he was doing. When Tenten saw what he was about to do, she immediately responded to the action. She too began to lean in.

_Oh, I just want him for my own,_

_More than you could ever know._

_Make my wish come true…_

_All I want for Christmas…_

They were seconds away from closing the gap, sealing their fates. The space between their lips got smaller and smaller until…

"Hey you two!"

…_Is you_

Neji and Tenten quickly pulled away from each other as they turned to see Kakashi.

"Oh!" Kakashi said covering his mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything…"

"Forget about it," Neji mumbled, though it was quite obvious he was peeved by the interruption.

"Oh, ok, well the thing is, I was just wondering if you kids wanted to go on and experience the Holiday Hallway first! We just opened it up," Kakashi old them, as if this was the greatest offer in the world as opposed to…well, what they were only milliseconds away from doing.

"Fine," sighed Neji, glancing at Tenten who looked rather embarrassed. Tenten nodded too.

"R-right!" she said, perking up. "We'll be on our way."

"Oh good!" Kakashi said happily. "I'll go get the others."

When Kakashi went away, Neji looked at Tenten apologetically. Tenten shrugged back.

"I guess we'll just…"

"Yeah," Neji finished for her.

All I want for Christmas is you baby… 

The two walked in the direction of the Holiday Hallway together as the song slowly faded to an end.

It was only a four minute song, but they felt like they could have stayed that way forever, to that very song.

**Don't kill me! Please don't kill me…I'm having them all get their smooches at different times, because it makes the story more interesting than if they all just sealed the deal at the same time like they normally do in my stories. Don't worry, ShikaIno and NejiTen's moments WILL happen, you'll see! One more chappie left…Thank you all so much, Merry Christmas!**


	17. The Holiday Hallway

**Dun dun dun dun dun! Last chappie I'm afraid…but please enjoy! I thank everyone who's supported me through this fic! You all are my loves!**

Chapter 17:

The Holiday Hallway 

"Right this way," Kakashi said enthusiastically, gesturing at the doorway that lead to the Holiday Hallway. With much effort, he had successfully got all eight couples to retreat from the dance floor. They were obviously dismayed by this, but after abandoning Kakashi, they felt like they were in no position to disobey.

Neji and Tenten entered through the doorway to the hallway first. However, only steps in, they heard muffled laughter coming from the girls behind them, and woops coming from the boys.

Tenten was oblivious. She looked back at her chuckling friends. _Oh God…_she thought. _I really hope I don't have my period or something._

"What is it?" she asked. They kept chuckling.

Neji looked annoyed. He didn't like being laughed at, particularly when he wasn't aware of the reason.

"Seriously," he grumbled. "What's so funny?"

His friends just continued to laugh. Naruto did a cat call.

Tenten looked back at Kakashi, who was chuckling himself.

"What is it?" Tenten asked him earnestly, desperate to know why everyone seemed to know something she and Neji didn't.

Kakashi grinned and pointed up above Neji and Tenten's head.

Slowly, they two looked up.

Sure enough, there was mistletoe dangling above their heads. The two blushed mutually. And lowered their head so they were level with one another. Both were speechless.

"Hah, I knew I'd get one of you guys with that!" Kakashi said, clapping his hands together joyously. He walked over to Neji and Tenten and put their hands together. "Now I think you know what you gotta do…"

"Way to go, Neji!" Naruto whooped from the side, giving the flushed Neji a thumbs up.

"Shut it, Naruto…" Neji growled at him embarrassedly, trying to hide his red face from Tenten. Unfortunately, his skin was almost as pale as his eyes, meaning any tint of red would show up no problem.

"Well, go on," Sakura egged him further, knowing very well of Tenten's affections for Neji, and how she might have been feeling at that moment. "You have to kiss her!"

Ino nodded frantically in agreement.

Neji gulped and turned to Tenten so his eyes were staring straight into hers. Don't get him wrong, he did want to kiss Tenten very much. In fact, it would have happened already had Kakashi not intruded. But he never intended on sharing the kiss in front of all their friends. _Naruto's so not going to let me live this one down._

Tenten store back at him, confused. Why was he so nervous about it? He came so close to kissing her before, it should have been no problem for him to just give her a peck right then. Was he holding back on something? _Oh no I knew I shouldn't have worn this dress he's probably-_

Tenten's thoughts were interrupted when Neji suddenly put his hands on her shoulders, pulled her to him, and covered her mouth with his. Tenten's eyes widened in shock at the sudden action, but then they slowly began to close as she deepened it. "Oooh"s resounded from all directions around them.

Neji's hands move from Tenten's shoulders to her waist and Tenten loosely rested her arms around his neck. The kiss was deepening itself now.

Their friends watching were almost as shocked as Tenten was.

"Wow," Naruto whistled. "Who would have though…they're turning this into a full-out make out session!"

Upon hearing this, Tenten and Neji immediately pulled apart, blushes creeping up their cheeks again when they realized what they had just done…in front of their friends _and _Kakashi _and _nearly the entire academy.

"Errm…" Neji said, running a hand through his hair as he looked at some inanimate object at the other end of the auditorium, not wanting to meet eyes with any of his friends. "We probably should be going in now."

"…Yeah," Tenten agreed, shyly tucking a wayward hair behind her ear before quickly turning towards the doorway, following Neji in.

The others just stood there, their legs feeling immobile. They were so…well, surprised. Neji the stoic and Tenten the tomboy expressing affection like that seemed nearly impossible. But gee, were they proven wrong!

Then, Naruto bean to laugh, breaking the silence.

"I'm so not going to let Neji live that one down!"

* * *

When all the teens were in the Holiday Hallway, they were stunned.

"Holy-" Ino clapped a hand over her mouth at how it looked.

It definitely didn't resemble the hallway they used to walk everyday only a few years ago. In fact, it wasn't just one hallway. It was four, branching off in different directions. They remembered this fork from way back when, but never considered it being used for this. No, there were red and green rugs on the normally marble floors, and lockers were covered with craft paper. One hallway had a sign at the top that said "Rudolph's Realm," one said "Cringle's Cove", one said "Grinch's Getaway," and the last said "Santa's Surrounding."

And to complete it all, there were four box cars on tracks leading through each of them, each box car big enough to fit two people.

Ever feel like life is too perfect?

"How did you get this all done in one night?" Sakura cried incredulously, gazing down the hallways. Kakashi shook his head and held his hands up.

"Who me? Oh, I didn't!" he laughed. "I had people come and lay this groundwork down, then a crew to put down the tracks and scenery!"

"But I thought you were in dept," reminded Ino.

"It's called a 'budget'," Kakashi explained. "It was all on the academy." He beamed at the great work of the hallway, as he pretended to frame it with his hands.

"Ah, my work is indeed a great one…"

"Yeah yeah," said Sasuke, breaking Kakashi's gloating moment. "How should we do this now?"

Kakashi stroked his chin, then a thought struck him. "Ah," he said, feeling like a genius for thinking it up.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Hinata.

"Well," Kakashi began. "I feel bad for interrupting you guys' dances, so why don't…you too go together in this car to make up time for the dance time I took from you," he took Naruto and Hinata's shoulders and pushed them towards the car leading to Rudolph's Realm. "And…" he looked at the remaining kids and took Sakura and Sasuke. "You two in this one," he nudged those two to the car leading into Santa's Surroundings. "You two here," he tugged Ino and Shika's to the car going into Cringle's Cove. "And well…" he looked at Tenten and Neji. "I told really need to say it, do I?" he asked, winking at them.

Neji rolled his eyes at Kakashi as he and Tenten headed into the cart leading to Grinch's Getaway.

All pairs got into the cars and settled into the surprisingly well-cushioned seats.

"All right," said Kakashi, his hand on a lever to the side. "Have fun you guys! Tell me how things go!"

With that, Kakashi pulled the lever and each car immediately started into their tunnels.

* * *

"AGH! What in the name of God is THAT???" Naruto practically jumped on Hinata, flinging his finger at one of the objects at the opening of Rudolph's Realm.

"Um," Hinata said, her face going hot at the contact. "That would be a reindeer, Naruto," she told him with a small smile.

Naruto sighed in relief. "Oh!" he said, letting go of Hinata and sinking back into his chair. "So those spiky things were _antlers_…jeez, who designed those things?"

"Probably Kakashi," Hinata giggled, as she looked at another reindeer they went by. Naruto was right. They were pretty heinous looking. "Oh my, what is that?" she now flung her own finger in the direction of an object that resembled a bruised up tomato.

"Santa, duh!" Naruto said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world that the big red blob with white fluff at the top was Santa Claus.

"Oh…of course!" Hinata said. They continued to regard the scenes as the cart moved along the tracks. It was almost as if they were going scene-by-scene of the movie.

"Hey," Naruto finally said around the end.

Hinata turned to him. "Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto shifted oddly in his seat. "You like snow glories, right?" he asked her hopefully.

Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh, do I!" she said animatedly. "I have a vase of them by my bed. They just make me feel so calm." (AN: Refer to chapter 3)

"Do they?" Naruto said enthusiastically, sitting up. Hinata nodded fiercely. "That's good then because…" Naruto reached next to him and pulled something out that he apparently must have smuggled on the car behind Hinata's eyes.

It was a gift wrapped box.

"…I was hoping you'd like this," he said, thrusting the gift at her with a nervous look on his face. Naruto wasn't exactly a romantic.

Hinata gasped. "For me?" she asked, putting her hand on her chest in a questioning possession way.

Naruto scoffed. "No, for that reindeer over there…yes for you! Open it!" he joked happily, practically bouncing in his seat.

"Ok," Hinata said with a smile, looking down to open the gift.

Hinata was a very dainty gift opener. She was the kind of person who takes the time to peel the tape off and unfold the wrapping paper, in the way that just makes you want to pounce on it and rip it open for them.

When Hinata set the paper aside, she looked down adoringly at the object in her hands.

It was a small jewelery box, embroidered with many snow glories of all kinds. The way they weaved through one another provided Hinata with the same sense of peace as the vase of them in her room. Only unlike those, this gift didn't need watering and would never die.

"Oh my…oh thank you Naruto!" Hinata gently set the gift down next to her and flung her arms around Naruto's neck, pulling him into a passionate embrace. She gave him a peck on the cheek too.

"Anytime," Naruto said, his voice filled with some amazement at Hinata's grand reaction. When Hinata let go, her smile never left her.

"I…I think I…" she began, blushing. Naruto shook his head.

"I know. Me too," he said. Hinata beamed. "And that was the most cliché thing I think I've ever said," he added peculiarly, mulling over what he and Hinata had just said to each other. Hinata burst out laughing.

"Yeah, it was kind of, wasn't it?" she asked, gaining her composure. Naruto laughed ad shrugged.

"Oh well," he said. "But I still meant it."

"I know…me too."

Regardless of the sucky reindeer that followed, Hinata's smile stuck with her for the rest of the ride.

And right then, she felt like it would stay forever.

* * *

"This place isn't all it's cracked up to be," said Sasuke, recoiling upon seeing a demented looking elf. Sakura laughed.

"You're just not into sweet things," she said, giving him a playful jab between the ribs. Sasuke flinched at it.

"What makes you say that?" he asked her with raising eyebrows. "I think I made it clear on the dance floor that I am," he reminded her, grinning.

Sakura turned left as she played with her feet.

"Yeah, you're right," she succumbed. "But still, I don't think this place is all that bad. I mean, look at the sturdy workshop right there!" she pointed at the small shack that had the words "Santa's workshop" scribbled on it. Just as she pointed, about five shingles fell off. She hesitantly lowered her finger. "Well, um…just some miner technical difficulties," she explained to Sasuke, who obviously wasn't buying it.

"Right," he said, narrowing one of his eyes. It was amazing how Sasuke often used eye language over anything else to get his true point across. "Then explain that."

He pointed one of the elves. Or, err, what was an elf. Instead, it's head, which looked obviously glued on, had snapped off, and was lying upside-down and half submerged in the fake snow by the decapitated body's feet.

Sakura gasped. "Hermey!" she said, without thinking.

"Hermey?" Sasuke scrunched up his nose in obliviousness. He looked closer at the head. "Wait, is that the elf that wanted to become a dentist or something?"

Sakura gazed at him in surprise. "Hey, yeah, it is!" she said. Then she lowered her gaze in a playfully evil way. "Ooh, you're saying that the tough old Sasuke Uchiha watches the classics?"

Sasuke looked away and shook his head. "That'll be the day," he said. Sakura crossed her arms and poked him again.

"Come on," she said. "You don't need to lie. It just makes you normal!" She loved to see his frustrated face.

"Normal is overrated," he quipped, resting his arms behind his head casually. Sakura looked at him oddly.

"Hm, odd, I do recall saying that about the holidays just yesterday," she told him, tapping her chin pretending to think. "And you know what you said to me?" she asked. Sasuke gave a sigh.

"That's what you think," Sasuke answered, having a pretty good memory.

"Exactly," Sakura said to him, brightening up. "So the same basic principal works here."

Sasuke put his arms down and now laced his fingers together beneath his chin.

"Actually it doesn't," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Because holidays are meant to be joyful."

"Who says being normal isn't?" Sakura shot back, putting one leg over the other. Sasuke shot her a glance.

"No one," he admitted. "But for me, being normal has never been an option. Since my clan was killed, I've either been sympathized with or told to get over it. In the meantime, I'm swamped by fan girls who only like me for my looks and isolated persona. Tell me, how does one live normally like that?"

Sakura sucked her lips in. She had always like Sasuke, but there were indeed times when she would question her crush. She reminded herself of how cold, power hungry and vengeful he could be. Her parents always told her that those components were the worst things to ever get mixed up in.

But now, she saw that Sasuke wasn't doing it because he thought himself a bigger person. He was doing it because he actually felt the least bit alone. And for that, she had to give him credit.

"You win," she said simply. Sasuke nodded.

"Thought so."

More silence followed after the word battle as the cart guided them through what was supposed to be elves at work on toys at their tables. Unfortunately, it looked more like a thanksgiving feast gone terribly wrong.

Sakura kept rubbing her eyes in irritation.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Sasuke finally asked Sakura, cutting the silence.

"Doing what?" Sakura asked obliviously.

"Rubbing your eyes?" he cleared up. Sakura bit her lip shyly.

"I don't know, it's just…I never really liked them all that much," she admitted. Sasuke looked taken aback.

"What that's crazy!" he said first, before catching himself. "I mean…why not?"

"I don't know, my eyelashes just don't compliment my eyes at all. They are lengthy at all whatsoever, and there are very few on each eye, and-" she stopped when she saw Sasuke's face turn shocked. _Agh, stupid, stupid, stupid! _Sakura mentally slapped herself. _Like he's gonna know what ANY of that just meant! _

Then, to her surprise, Sasuke's shocked face melted into a grin.

"Well, then I'm in luck," he said, putting his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a thin wrapped object. "Because this is for you." He tossed the gift onto Sakura's lap. She looked down at it in surprise.

"You got me a gift? Oh my God, Sasuke, that's so sweet!" She put her hand on her heart.

"Yeah, yeah, just…go ahead and open it," Sasuke said, trying to hide his emotions. Sakura went ahead and did just that, ripping off the paper with almost just one tear.

Sakura took a small cylindrical object out of the paper and rolled it over to look at the words inscribed on the tube.

"Oh my gosh…Sasuke, this mascara isn't even sold in Konoha yet!" Sakura exclaimed, feeling like she was walking on thin air. She looked at Sasuke, who looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, well, I've got a friend who's tight with another guy's teammate's uncle whose wife's friend owns the company and…well you know," he said, gesturing towards the tube of mascara Sakura was holding. "I know you like makeup and all that, so I thought you'd like-"

Sasuke couldn't finish, because Sakura swept him into a long, tight hug. Sasuke found himself instinctively returning it, letting Sakura bury her head in his shoulder.

"Uchiha Sasuke," she said into his shirt. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. He wasn't sure whether she was being serious when she said that, or saying it in the way girls do when their friend says something hilarious.

He pulled her out of his chest.

"Do you…do you mean that?" He asked her nervously, steadying her by her shoulders, as if not letting her go until she answered. Sakura smiled.

"Of course I do, stupid!" she said playfully, slapping his arm. "Why else would I have stuck with you all this time?"

Sasuke couldn't help but grin.

"Good," he said straight up. "Because that means we're on the same page."

As the rest of the ride went on, neither of them could suppress the butterflies soaring crazily within their stomachs. Yes, butterflies. Yes, in Sasuke's stomach too.

* * *

Ino admired the scenery at he car went through the "Cringle Cove" setup. This one was surprisingly well done, as it mostly required snow trees with the occasional abominable snowman and human. It looked rather enchanting.

"Ah, this brings back memories," Ino said, sinking her chin onto the support of one of her hands.

"Of what?" Shikamaru asked with interest.

"Remember back when we went to the academy?" Ino asked him dreamily. Shikamaru nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "But they didn't have this feature back then" he reminded her, unbuttoning a few of his buttons on his shirt.

"Yeah I know, but just the essence- whoa, what are you doing?" Ino just noticed Shikamaru unbuttoning his shirt. Shikamaru looked up at her sheepishly. Way to be caught doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"It's hot in this place," he explained. "And having all buttons done up to my neck wasn't exactly doing it for me." He rolled up his sleeves in the same manner Neji had his.

"Oh, that's what you were doing," Ino said in slight relief, but slight disappointment. "I thought you were-"

"You thought I was stripping or something?" Shikamaru teased her. Ino laughed.

"Well, actually yes," she said, running her fingers through her hair. Shikamaru pretended to be taken aback.

"Why, Ino! I know you desperately want to see my chiseled abbs _again, _but please try to contain yourself…"

Ino laughed even harder and hit his knee gently.

"Oh, shut up!" she said, smiling as she crossed her arms. "Don't flatter yourself."

Shikamaru, the little actor prodigy he was, pretended now to look offended.

"That hurt," he said. "You don't really think like that, do you Ino? Because according to your diary…"

"What did I tell you about that?" hissed Ino. "No more bringing up my diary! What you wrote was…nice…but you shouldn't have been reading it in the first place!"

"I know, I know," Shikamaru admitted. "Tell you what…" he reached into the bag he had with him, and pulled out a square shaped package. "Maybe this will make it up to you."

Ino looked down on the package and took it gently, forgetting all of her anger at him.

"Aw, Shika!" she said touchingly. "You really shouldn't have…" She started to open it.

"It was troublesome," sighed Shikamaru as Ino tore open the paper. "But I think you'll like it. I'm _hoping _you'll like it."

When Ino finished opening the gift, she smiled in awe. Shika had given her a new diary. The page edges were golden, and the cover was a light blue leather. The diary was thick, and the pages were all parchment. Ino adored it.

"Shika!" Ino said, almost wordless she was so happy.

"For you to start anew," Shikamaru explained his motive. "With new secrets and events that I haven't read…and I swear, I won't read this one," he assured her.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," Ino told him sincerely. "I'm so happy, I could…I could…"

Ino didn't get to finish.

Maybe it was because just then, Shikamaru leaned in, and locked his lips with hers. The lip chemicals of a lazy bum and a loud mouth interacted, sending what felt like an exciting jolt of electricity back and forth between them. It would hit one of them, and the other would try to send it back with even more force than the first. It felt like a contest of who could prove their passion to the other deeper.

After a few minutes, the broke apart. Ino's mouth was still open, and Shikamaru smiled lazily. But Shikamaru being Shikamaru, he could make a lazy grin look sexy.

"…do that," Ino finished her sentence, still dazed by the world-rocking kiss.

"Sorry. I guess I just read your mind," Shikamaru said, though he didn't sound sorry.

Ino grinned back and hooked her arms around his neck again.

"You do that all too well," she whispered in his ear. "My lazy genius."

With that, Ino made the second move, and started kissing Shika deeply.

As they kissed, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice Ino's use of the word _my._

_That's right Ino, _he thought as he kissed back. _I'm your lazy genius…and only yours._

* * *

"What is the grinch even supposed to _be?" _Neji asked Tenten, looking disgusted at the green monster resembling thing.

"I'm guessing he's supposed to be a Who-gone-rotten, or something of the sort," Tenten answered to her knowledge.

"What's a Who?" Neji now asked, not knowing the terminology in that movie, just showing how holiday deprived he had been all his life.

"See those things with turned up noses?" Tenten pointed at a distorted looking Who, but a Who nonetheless. "Those are Who's."

Neji looked like he had woken up in the middle of a nightmare or something.

"What, were the creators high or something when they made this?" he asked Tenten as they rolled by a model of Cindy Lou Who. Tenten chuckled.

"You'll have to ask Dr. Seuss that," she told him.

"I'll write him a letter or something…" he grumbled.

"Actually," Tenten said, using every wit in her to keep from bursting into laughter. "He's dead. Been dead for a while, actually."

Neji turned red with embarrassment. "Oh, um, well…" For the very first time, Neji Hyuuga felt speechless. "Oh."

Tenten nodded.

They sat in silence for a bit before Tenten heard Neji mumble something that sounded like "thatfuzzmehfistkes."

"Huh?" she asked him, tilting her head to one side. Neji tried to speak coherently like he normally did, but for some reason, he couldn't.

"Tharuzzmyfrs…" he repeated, whatever the word was coming out even more distorted then it did the first time.

"What? Sorry you're going to have to speak-"

"Thatwasmyfirstkiss," Neji said quickly, as if it were all one sentence. Tenten looked at him meaningfully. Neji closed his eyes and sighed. "That…that was my first kiss…is all." He turned away from Tenten.

Tenten was taken off guard. Neji Hyuuga? Surely he had never kissed another girl personally, but she had her wonders about girls probably kissing _him _independent of his will. It made her feel more secure with him. It made her feel like she wasn't just a teenage girl dealing with a superhero. She felt like a teenage girl dealing with a teenage boy. Which was how she was longing to feel with Neji ever since she met him.

Tenten took Neji's chin and turned it towards her.

"That makes two of us," she told him softly, as she leaned in and gave him a tender kiss on the lips. When she pulled back, she examined Neji's shocked expression. "For taking me off guard the first time," she explained to him. Neji grinned.

"Thank you Tenten," he said, his voice becoming less bold and fearful, but more human.

"Anytime, Neji," Tenten smiled at him, exposing her bright and straight teeth. It was then that Neji remembered to do something. Something important.

"Here…" he said, pulling out a small wrapped box and handing it to her. "It's the eighth night of Hanukkah tonight, right?"

Tenten nodded gratefully and started opening the gift. It didn't take much to rid the gift of the paper, since it was so small.

But you ever heard of the phrase that the best gifts come in small packages?

"Neji," Tenten said, looking down at her gift, or should I say gifts. "I…I love them."

In her hands, Tenten had two crystal studded hair things. She saw them once at Konoha Jewelers, but were way too expensive for her to afford. So she just fawned over them through the glass.

"Since you normally wear buns," Neji said, looking at her hair.

Tenten looked down at her long hair, then to the hair things, then to Neji.

"You know what?" she said. She took the new hair things in her hands and tied a bun upon each side of her head. "I think I've always liked this style better."

Neji grinned. "Me too," he said.

Tenten smiled back.

And before they knew it, the hallway had come to an end.

* * *

"Now, was that great, or was that great??" Kakashi asked them, opening the doors of the cars for all of them.

All the teens looked at one another.

"Errm…yeah!"

"Sure!"

"lovely!"

"Hah, I just knew it," Kakashi said, priding himself on a "job well done." "Thanks guys! I feel totally confident now!"

This only made the teens feel mildly guilty.

"Right, well, we'll just be in the auditorium," Naruto said, as he and the rest of them quickly rushed out of the hallways into the auditorium where music was blasting.

The girls all huddled together, and the guys began talking about how much the scenery sucked.

"Ooh, I see I'm not the only one who received a gift," Sakura said happily, gesturing towards all the gifts everyone held. They all chuckled.

"Not quite," Hinata said, admiring her jewelry box still.

"So," Tenten said, changing the subject to what they were all thinking about all night long. "Did you guys…did they?"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Tenten smiled. "I thought as much," she said giddily, happy to see that all their holiday wishes had come true.

The girls looked at the guys who looked back at them in a way they never had before.

"So," Ino said. "Should we go check out the booths perhaps?" she suggested.

"I'm for that!" Naruto said, grabbing Hinata's wrist. "To the basketball stand!"

They all laughed.

"Perhaps another Tarot card reading won't hurt," Tenten said knowingly to Neji, who led her by the arm to the psychic stand.

"I hate to admit it," Neji said. "But I think Courtney's readings were accurate."

Tenten squeezed Neji's arm tighter. "I think so too," she agreed.

Sasuke walked over to Sakura.

"Cakewalk?" he asked her, pointing at the cakewalk he, Sakura and Clarissa spent hours making.

Sakura covered her mouth in mock-horror. "Deary me!" she said in a high-pitched tone. "Not all those calories!"

She and Sasuke just laughed at the memory and took to the direction of the cakewalk.

To Shikamaru and Ino's horror, suddenly the song "Fergalicious" boomed through the speakers. They both sighed.

"One more dance for all times sake?" he suggested. Ino curtseyed.

"But of course."

All eight of them used the activities wisely for the rest of the night, treasuring every minute as it went by.

* * *

"Hey guys!" The DJ announced through the speakers. "It's about time to wrap it up, so I'm just going to double play one last song by popular recommendation! Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!"

The DJ's voice faded out, and the next song that came on was…

_All I want for Christmas…Is you._

The guys all groaned while the girls laughed hysterically.

"We'll spare you," Sakura said, though she and the girls were all bouncing to the music. "We need to be going now anyway…" She looked at her friends, who sadly nodded. "Happy holidays guys!"

"You too," they all said back in unison as they waved goodbye to the leaving girls.

All the girls felt like the stepped out of the auditorium new people. No, not because the Holiday Hallway amazed them so.

Because they finally got the gifts they've been asking for for years on end.

And those gifts weren't diaries, hair things, jewelry boxes, or mascara.

And I bet you can guess what they were.

Holiday miracles really do come true.

**I honestly hope you liked it, everyone! This is the end (sniff) but I honestly hoped you guys liked it. Merry Christmas, though it's a bit late now! But it's still the holidays! I'd like to thank EACH and EVERY person who reviewed. Not every review I could reply to, but not one review went by unnoticed and unappreciated, and for that I thank you all SO much. I honestly do hope you all a good New Year!**


	18. AN: Sequel Up!

**I just want to let anyone who still has alerts on this story that I've broken down and written a sequel/epilogue. It's called "Valentine's Day Bliss" and you can find it under my stories. Just wanted to let you know for anyone who's interested in reading it! Thanks guys!**


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